Asian American tennis player Jessica Pegula has criticized the organizers of the French Open for giving so few “primetime” night match slots to the women’s matches.
According to Tennis World USA, only one of the 10 primetime matches was a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) match.
“We want to see more women in those spots, to highlight good tennis matches if we can, so it hasn’t been ideal that there has only been one primetime match for us,” Pegula wrote in a column for BBC.
She noted that the WTA Players’ Council, of which she is a member, has raised the issue frequently. They also spoke with tournament organizers about it last year.
“That makes this year more disappointing because we tried to address it. We haven’t seen any improvement. We’re not sure what has happened,” Pegula wrote.
This year Pegula entered the French Open as the no. 3 seed but lost in the third round to Elise Mertens. She and fellow American Coco Guaff reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Doubles but lost on Friday to Leylah Fernandez and Taylor.
The 29-year-old has not shied away from using her platform to make a difference. She recently wrote a column for the NFL team the Buffalo Bills about her AAPI heritage.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
Please follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.