“They pay money” – Daniil Medvedev redirects questions about women losing out on primetime night session slots at French Open to Amazon

Russian tennis professional Daniil Medvedev recently addressed the burning question about his female colleagues not being favored to play during the primetime night sessions at the 2024 French Open. He made a statement on the issue after reaching the third round in the men's singles draw in Paris.

Medvedev received a walkover against the ailing Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia in the second round on Thursday, May 30. Kecmanovic struggled to find a footing due to an injury and decided to quit while trailing 6-1, 5-0.

After a relatively easy entry into the third round, Medvedev sat down with the reporters in the press room at Roland Garros to answer a few questions. One of the questions was about no matches involving women being scheduled during the evening sessions that extend to night, which are considerably more viewed and attended than the morning sessions.

Medvedev redirected the question to Amazon, which has partnered with the French Open to broadcast 11 evening sessions from May 26 to June 5 this year through Prime Video.

"That’s a question to Amazon because they decide and they probably want longer matches and men matches will be longer than women just because it’s more sets. So it’s a question to them, they pay money. So not much more I can add," Medvedev said.

The World No. 5 then recollected his not-so-pleasant experiences of playing at the French Open during the later hours of the day. He said:

"But I played three night sessions and I honestly, in terms of my sensations on the court like the court is heavy, slow I don’t like it, I think I lost two and won one probably so I’m happy not to play."

"Actually, the other night [first round win against Dominik Koepfer], I was feeling good at night here, I was playing good tennis so might be different this year but again, this question to Amazon, I don't know who works there," he added.

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Ons Jabeur rues Iga Swiatek-Naomi Osaka 2R thriller at French Open 2024 not receiving a night-session slot

French Open (Roland Garros) trademark. Photo: Getty

Notably, Ons Jabeur brought up the matter of the 2024 French Open not reserving the night sessions for the women's play this year.

Jabeur expressed regret over the fact that the second-round match between the current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka wasn't played during the 'prime time'.

"I'm watching TV every day. A lot of men matches more than women, and is the truth... I wish I saw Osaka and Iga’s match today as a night session. But it’s a choice. I understand that. Maybe the prime time is now. I don’t know," Jabeur said in a press conference after beating Camila Rosario in the second round on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the Swiatek-Osaka battle at the French Open went down to the wire as the Japanese star surprised the Pole by producing unarguably the best tennis of her career postpartum.

Swiatek and Osaka were locked in for three hours as the former saved a match point in the third set to snatch a 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 win on Wednesday.