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‘Happy for men to take French Open night sessions,’ says Gauff

Coco Gauff shrugged off French Open night sessions being monopolised by men, claiming it's a not a "hotspot" for women players.

'Happy for men to take French Open night sessions,' says Gauff
US Coco Gauff reacts during her match against Russia's Mirra Andreeva. Photo: Emmanuel DUNAND/AFP.

In 2022, only one of 10 night sessions at Roland Garros featured a women’s singles match.

This year saw the first six nights also feature only men’s singles with Sunday’s last-16 clash between Aryna Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens set to be the first women’s match at the seventh time of asking.

“I don’t know if the night session amongst the players is a popular hotspot, to be honest,” said American world number six Gauff.

“I guess for the TV and that’s the prime spot, maybe yes, it does suck in that sense. But amongst the players and from my conversations, I don’t think a lot of people want that spot just because it is a late night.”

The 19-year-old added: “I don’t know if Sloane or Aryna wanted to play at that time, but I know the ones I spoke to, no one really wants the night session.

“We we were happy with the men taking it.”

Last year, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, a former world number one and two-time Grand Slam title winner, caused a stir by saying men’s matches were more attractive. However, she insisted her remarks were taken out of context.

On Saturday, there were reports that fans were offering their Sunday night session tickets back for resale.

Men’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz and 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic are both playing in the day time on Sunday.

They form part of a three-match daytime session on Court Philippe Chatrier with the most expensive ticket, according to the tournament’s own website, priced at €245 — an average of just over €80 per match.

The one match on Sunday evening, however, comes with a top price of €180.

World number seven Ons Jabeur believes the best way forward is to follow the lead of the Australian and US Opens and schedule a men’s and a women’s match side-by-side in the night sessions.

That would mean an earlier start than the current 2030 (1830GMT) slot or run the risk of ending deep in the early hours of the following morning.

Saturday night’s match, which saw Alexander Zverev defeat Frances Tiafoe in four sets, finished at 0015 local time on Sunday (2215GMT).

“It was high time to put a night session with a female match. It’s a bit strange that we didn’t have the two matches, man and woman,” said Tunisian player Jabeur.

The Wimbledon and US Open runner-up in 2022 believes public perceptions of women’s tennis need to drastically change.

“People just judge that it’s gonna be a crappy match. But it’s not the case. There are a lot of extraordinary matches,” she said.

“I met many people who say, Well, the female matches, blah, blah, blah, and I ask them, Did you watch a female match? They said no. How can you judge a female match without watching it?”

“I hope that the stadium will be full tomorrow.”

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Paris Olympics organisers deny athletes’ beds are ‘anti-sex’

They may be made of cardboard, but the beds at the athletes' village for this year's Paris Olympics have been chosen for their environmental credentials, not to prevent competitors having sex, organisers said.

Paris Olympics organisers deny athletes' beds are 'anti-sex'

The clarification came after fresh reports that the beds, manufactured by Japanese company Airweave and already used during the Tokyo 2020 Games, were to deter athletes from jumping under the covers together in the City of Love.

“We know the media has had a lot of fun with this story since Tokyo 2020, but for Paris 2024 the choice of these beds for the Olympic and Paralympic Village is primarily linked to a wider ambition to ensure minimal environmental impact and a second life for all equipment,” a spokesman for the Paris Games told AFP.

The bed bases are made from recycled cardboard, but during a demonstration in July last year Airweave founder Motokuni Takaoka jumped on one of them and stressed that they “can support several people on top”.

The Paris Games spokesman underlined that “the quality of the furniture has been rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, comfortable and appropriate for all the athletes who will use it, and who span a very broad range of body types – from gymnasts to judokas”.

The fully modular Airweave beds can be customised to accommodate long and large body sizes, with the mattresses — made out of resin fibre — available with different firmness levels.

After the Games, the bed frames will be recycled while the mattresses and pillows will be donated to schools or associations.

Athletes will sleep in single beds, two or three to a room, in the village, a newly built complex close to the main athletics stadium in a northern suburb of the capital.

A report this week in the New York Post tabloid entitled “‘Anti-sex’ beds have arrived at Paris Olympics” was reported by other media and widely circulated on social media.

Similar claims went viral before the Tokyo Olympics, sometimes fanned by athletes themselves.

To debunk them, Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan filmed a video of himself jumping repeatedly on a bed to demonstrate their solidity.

At those Games, during the coronavirus pandemic, organisers, however, urged athletes to “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact”.

In March, Laurent Dalard, in charge of first aid and health services at Paris 2024, said around 200,000 condoms for men and 20,000 for women will be made available at the athletes’ village during the Games.

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