French Open LIVE: Swiatek v Paolini buildup updates from women’s final

The WTA has called for a balanced match schedule at the French Open that gives women’s players their fair share of prime time billing after the Grand Slam featured men’s matches in all 11 evening session slots this year.

In France, Amazon’s Prime Video has exclusive broadcasting rights for the major’s evening sessions, which run from the first round to the quarter-finals, and only one women’s match was chosen to be the evening showpiece in both 2022 and 2023.

Tournament organisers missed an opportunity to highlight the blockbuster second round clash featuring defending champion Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka in the evening, with that three-setter hailed as one of the matches of the tournament so far.

“The generation and depth of talent we are currently witnessing in the sport is incredible,” the governing body of women’s tennis said in a statement.

“Fans want to see the excitement and thrill of women’s tennis on the biggest stages and in the premium time slots.

“To continue building the value of our combined product, a balanced match schedule that features both the best in men’s and women’s tennis is critical.”

French Open organisers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Tournament director and twice Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo had said last year they could “do better” on evening scheduling and Tunisian eighth seed Ons Jabeur was less than happy to play her quarter-final in the morning this year.

“I would have loved a quarter-final at night, not at 11 a.m. For me, it doesn’t make sense… I don’t know the broadcasts. I don’t know the TV, but yeah, you achieve a quarter-final, it’s like ‘no, you play at 11’,” Jabeur said.

“Honestly, I wish I can see the contract time between both Prime and here to know what’s the deal there. There were a lot of good women’s matches.

“Obviously not four hours, but who said it’s healthy to play past 1 a.m. and who said the stadium was full for 1 a.m. or 2 a.m.? I don’t know who is watching the matches at that time.

“I would suggest to start earlier and then put nice matches on both sides. It’s not healthy also for players to play past, I don’t know, midnight.”

Not all women’s players prefer evening matches, however, with Swiatek saying she was much more comfortable playing in warm weather during the day.

“I like playing during the day, so it’s comfortable for me that I can be scheduled that way,” she said.

“Probably there are many factors, a lot of requests… I understand some decisions, like me and Naomi being in the day when Richard Gasquet played during the night.

“It’s obvious that a French player might have priority in terms of night sessions.”

Yesterday evening in the men’s semis, Carlos Alcaraz edged Jannik Sinner over five sets – here’s Jamie Braidwood’s rundown of how another epic unfolded…

As Carlos Alcaraz advanced into his first French Open final, the 21-year-old broke into a wide smile. He had beaten rival Jannik Sinner in five sets, overturning a rocky start to outlast the player who will be turning world No 1 on Monday. Alcaraz’s victory, 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 in four hours and nine minutes, was not the classic that was expected between the two finest players of their generation, but it was a victory to display the vast amount of experience the Spaniard has already accumulated on these stages, acquiring the physical and mental tools to progress.

“You have to find the joy in suffering, that’s the key, even more on clay in Roland Garros,” Alcaraz grinned. “Long rallies, four-hour matches, five sets, you have to suffer. But you have to enjoy suffering.” He is now the youngest player in tennis history to reach grand slam finals on all three surfaces, after winning the US Open and Wimbledon. Unlike the 22-year-old Sinner, this was not his first time in a French Open semi-final. While Sinner struggled with cramps, stretching out his hand and arm due to “tension” in the third set, Alcaraz had been there before.

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the final live on Eurosport 1, with build-up on the channel from 1.30pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+.

Watch every moment of Roland-Garros LIVE and exclusive on discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport App.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Good morning and welcome to our coverage on The Independent of the women’s singles final at Roland Garros – it’s the queen of clay Iga Swiatek against debutant grand slam finalist Jasmine Paolini.

All the buildup on the way.

An emotional Gauff had a blazing row with umpire Aurelie Tourte, telling the official she “should be ashamed” for not overturning a call.

The 20-year-old American then wiped tears from her eyes as boos rang out all around Court Philippe Chatrier.

World No 1 Swiatek, a seemingly unstoppable force at Roland Garros, went on to register her 20th consecutive win here, 6-2, 6-4.