mobanmarketParis: The French Open was plunged into a sexism row on Thursday after the decision to move the women’s semi-finals away from the tournament’s showpiece court was blasted as “unfair and inappropriate”.
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After torrential rain washed out all of Wednesday’s play, the last two women’s quarter-finals were played Thursday with the semi-finals pushed back a day until Friday.
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However, the semi-final between Ashleigh Barty and Amanda Anisimova will be played on Court Suzanne Lenglen while Johanna Konta’s match with Marketa Vondrousova has been shifted to the smaller 5,000-seater Court Simonne-Mathieu.
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The men’s semis between Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic taking on Dominic Thiem will be played on the main, 14,000-seat Court Philippe Chatrier as planned.
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“We are extremely disappointed by the scheduling of both women’s semifinals on outside courts,” said WTA chief executive Steve Simon.
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“The four women who have played so well and made it this far have earned their right to play on the biggest stage.
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“We believe other solutions were possible which would have been to the benefit of fans as well as all players.”
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Both women’s semi-finals were originally scheduled for Thursday on the rebuilt Chatrier Court with the final on Saturday.
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Men’s semi-finals day is Friday and Sunday is the traditional day for their championship match.
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But Wednesday’s washout, which also saw two men’s quarter-finals played a day late on Thursday, caused havoc with the schedule.
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Complicating the picture further is the threat of more rain on Friday, raising the prospect of the women’s final being moved to Sunday and the men’s to Monday.
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Tournament director Guy Forget had admitted that moving the women’s semi-finals to smaller courts could be seen as controversial.
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“You’re afraid that some players might feel that it’s a lack of respect or we are just trying to diminish it — no,” he said.
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“Ideally, when you see historically what has happened in the tournament, we try to be fair to everyone.”
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However, France’s former world number one and two-time major winner Amelie Mauresmo blasted the decision to shift the women’s semi-finals.
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“It is shameful for our tournament,” tweeted the 49-year-old.
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“Everyone agrees that the match of the day is Federer/Nadal.
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“But what message are we sending by taking the decision to put the two women’s semi-finals at 11am on the second and third courts?
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“No match on the centre court?”
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Mauresmo believes that the men’s and women’s semi-finals should be be split between Chatrier and the 12,000-capacity Lenglen.
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“It’s simple to open Lenglen and Chatrier and have the two women’s matches at 1pm followed by the two men’s.”
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Anisimova, just 17, and the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Nicole Vaidisova at the 2007 Australian Open, said she had no objections to playing on a smaller court.
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“Actually, I’m really happy that I get to play tomorrow,” said the American, who is the first player born in the 2000s to get to the last-four of a major.
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“I don’t have to wait a whole day, because I get really eager to want to go on the court, so I’m happy I get to play tomorrow.”