"What a joke";"Tennis continues to make stupid decisions" - Fans criticize 'ridiculous' French Open decision to not change night session timings

French Open 2024 will not see any changes made to its night session timings, which have come under fire from players, analysts and fans alike in recent years.

The night session matches at the year's second Grand Slam are set to begin at 8:30 PM local time. Furthermore, the first day of main draw matches will feature an additional night session.

The news did not go down well with tennis fans. One set of fans ridiculed the French Open's refusal to make changes despite repeatedly facing backlash.

"Hahaha what a joke, sorry for all those who bought 3 digits worth tickets to end up watching 1 match only. I am not paying that to watch Swiatek smash a 90 ranked player in 45 min," one fan wrote.

"Tennis continues to make stupid decisions," another fan commented.

"I remember that colossal Nadal-Djokovic match in 2022 finishing in the wee hours of the morning. Ridiculous," another fan chimed in.

The aforementioned quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic lasted over four hours, with Nadal winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) to progress to the semifinals.

Another set of fans bemoaned the failure of the tournament's organizers in terms of learning from past mistakes.

"This is wild. After last year’s drama they’ve learnt nothing," wrote one fan.

"Yay another grand slam tournament with journalists complaining endlessly about night sessions ending too late," commented another fan.

"Worst slam for a reason," another fan wrote.

"That… sucks," a prominent tennis journalist opined.

"No one really wants the night session" - Coco Gauff on WTA peers' stance at the 2023 French Open

The first seven days of the 2023 French Open saw men playing all the night-session matches. The pattern was broken by Aryna Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens' fourth-round encounter.

During a press conference, Coco Gauff was asked if she and her peers would have liked to play more night-session matches. In her response, Gauff said that the WTA peers she had spoken to were not interested in playing late at night.

"I don't think a lot of people want that spot just because it is a late night. Yeah, I really don't have much say on that. Yeah, I mean, just speaking to the players, 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," Gauff said.

The provisional schedule for the 2024 French Open has been released and as things stand, the main draw matches are scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 26.