SEXIST MONSTERS? CAN’T BLAME THE FRENCH OPEN FOR SELLING MEN OVER WOMEN
Women’s tennis is boring — please name the best players, after the Serena Williams era — and men will be featured in evening matches at famed Roland Garros because they have the “better matches”
The best women’s tennis player of her time, once upon a time, is now losing in the first round of the French Open. Naomi Osaka was crying Monday, only seven years after winning the U.S. Open. That was the day when Serena Williams was charged with three code violations, referred to umpire Carlos Ramos as a thief and broke her racket in a subhuman outrage. Osaka was supposed to rule the sport throughout the decade after winning four Grand Slam events.
Instead, she sounded ready to quit again after a three-set loss to Paula Badosa. She works with Williams’ ex-coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, and said, “He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the (expletive) is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”
Is this the last we’ll see Osaka at a major? “As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people,” she said.
The reason I lead with Osaka is that the women’s game has little appeal. The absence of life, beyond top players Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, has led France’s federation to declare women won’t be playing night matches at famed Roland Garros. The “better matches” are found in the men’s tournament, said president Gilles Moretton. Those are big events for TNT Sports, with new coverage including the United States. So if you turn on the TV in the afternoon, the women are all but abolished.
“The schedule is one key point on the tournament,” Moretton said. “Sometimes we have to think about what could be better for spectators. That’s why we have to make some choices. … The main point is that the sport (is) first on the schedule. Sometimes, we need to put, I mean, for the night session, we need to put the better match.”
So shout it out, the French are brutalists! Actually, can any of us blame them? In the age of the Williams sisters, or dating back to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, the women were thrilling and qualified as must-watches. Today, the American hope is Coco Gauff, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and earned $30.4 million last year. But we are left waiting for her second Grand Slam, and she is not a favorite on the clay courts. She has yet to win this season and started her own management firm, cutting ties with an agency run by Roger Federer and Tony Godsick.
“From the moment I first picked up a tennis racket, I’ve always believed my purpose extended far beyond the court,” Gauff said. “I want to make an impact — not just in tennis, but in business, philanthropy and beyond.”
If and when the women excite the fan base, invite them to play at night. No one is complaining about the decision as sexist or piggish because fans paying the highest prices want the best battles. So what we have, in a sport minimized by the massive popularity of pickleball, are men, men and more men. Carlos Alcaraz is looking for his fifth Slam at age 22. Jannik Sinner, back from a three-month steroids suspension that should have lasted years, is trying to make a fuss. In January, before winning the Australian Open, he thought about giving up tennis.
“I was uncomfortable, also because it seemed to me that the other players looked at me differently. For a moment, I even thought about giving up everything,” Sinner told the Italian TV station RA.
Net enthusiasts have no reason to complain. They were able to observe the Big Three — Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Federer — as they won 66 Slams. They saw Serena and her 23 Slams. Right now, they salute Nadal, who hasn’t swung a racket in six months after winning an astonishing 14 times at the French. He plays golf, telling the crowd: “I didn’t care if I lose, if I win, if I play bad. Was a strange feeling for me, and not funny. I didn’t like to experience that, being honest, because I understand (sports differently).” In general, at 38, he is understanding “what really motivates me for this new life.”
Djokovic, who apparently is the GOAT of the three with 24 Slams, stood on the court with Nadal, Federer and Andy Murray and wondered if he’ll soon by saluted by the fans. “Honestly, I was thinking about my end of the road as well when we were watching Rafa giving his speech,” he said. “Part of me is proud that I’m still there, that I’m still going, but at the same time, I was, and I still am a bit sad that they’re all gone because those guys were my greatest motivations for why I competed so intensely and for so long.
“But I didn’t think about the exact date, if that’s what you’re looking for. I do wish one day that I can get the kind of goodbye from the world of tennis, for sure.”
At 38, can he stay on the court with kids? There’s your angle: Alcaraz and continuing history, Sinner and steroids and Novak avoiding injuries that will end his career. Women? Sabalenka vs. Swiatek won’t cut it. That is when media boss David Zaslav, who chose the French Open over the NBA future, will explore his inner being.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.