Ons Jabeur says she would like to speak to the tournament director of Roland Garros because she wants to “know a lot of things”. Earlier in the clay court season, the world number 9 called for women to be treated with more respect at tournaments.
And she renewed her calls to see changes in scheduling decisions both on court and on television after advancing to the third round at Roland Garros.
Amélie Mauresmo, a two-time major tournament winner, currently runs Roland Garros and Jabeur hopes to speak with the retired star turned tournament director at the end of the fortnight.
At last month’s Madrid Open, Jabeur remarked that some other European tournaments needed to “respect women more.” After arriving in Paris for the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, he was asked if these feelings applied to Roland Garros.
“I’m going to get in trouble again, aren’t I?” the three-time Major finalist smiles. “Look, I know they’re trying here. I wish they would try more. This is not something we will change overnight.
One of the problems Jabeur raised in Madrid was the imbalance between the number of men’s and women’s matches shown on television. And that’s something she noticed was still happening at Roland Garros. “I watch television every day. Many men match more than women, and that’s the truth. I mean, I’m not going to lie about it,” she added.
Jabeur made sure to give credit to Mauresmo, who was named tournament director of Roland Garros in late 2021. But she also contested one of the four matches the other day – a clash between four-time champion Iga Swiatek of the Grand Slam, and Naomi Osaka – is not allocated the night session slot on the Philippe-Chatrier court.
Jabeur continued: “I think Amélie is doing an incredible job and trying to change that, but these things, they take time. I wish I could see more of the change. Obviously, I would like to be able to see more, as I would have liked to see the Osaka and Iga match today in the night session. But it’s a choice. I understand that.
“Maybe now is prime time. I don’t know. Again, I will continue to push for this, and I would really like to see more promotion of women’s sport in general and women’s tennis in general. And the 29-year-old said she would look forward to speaking with Mauresmo after the tournament to get answers.
“Yeah absolutely. I feel like I wanted to focus more on the tournament right now,” Jabeur explained. “But I think Amélie is such an amazing person that she would be very open to talking about things . I would like to know things.
“Obviously, I don’t know everything that’s going on with TV, with the rights, with this and that. But I’m curious about a lot of things. But I know for sure that they are trying to do better. You know, as a woman who’s acting right now, I want to see more, that’s for sure. And maybe some things are out of his hands. It’s like that.
