PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 26: Naomi Osaka of Japan during her first round match against Laura Siegemund of Germany on day 3 of the 2026 French Open, Roland-Garros 2026, a Grand Slam tennis tournament at Stade Roland Garros on May 26, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
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There hasn’t been a women’s night match at Roland Garros in three years, but that will change on Monday.
Tournament organizers put the highly anticipated fourth-round showdown between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka on the night card.
The match will air at 2:15 ET on TNT, 8:15 local time in Paris.
“YOLO,” Osaka said when asked on Saturday if her match against Sabalenka deserved a night slot, using the abbreviation for “you only live once.”
Since their introduction at Roland Garros, just four of the 50 night matches have featured women’s singles. There were none in 2024 or 2025, with the most recent women’s night match being Sabalenka vs. Sloane Stephens in 2023.
Because women play best-of-3 sets and men play best-of-5, tournament organizers have been reluctant to put a woman’s singles match on at night because if it’s a blowout it could be over in 60 or 65 minutes and fans will feel they didn’t get their money’s worth.
One possible solution is to have a doubles match ready to go as a second match if the singles ends quickly.
At the U.S. Open, both men’s and women’s singles matches are featured at night. After years of the women always going on first, that has changed in recent years with the men sometimes featured as the first match, meaning the women sometimes have to wait several hours before going on court.
Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, is among those to criticize the lack of women’s night matches at Roland Garros.
“I wish women’s tennis could be shown more in those spots,” she told BBC Sport. “The men always have the priority with the scheduling, they take the most popular slots, and on bigger courts.
“I like to play at night – especially when the stadiums are full. I’m the kind of player that really enjoys it when there are a lot of fans watching, and I think that’s what we all play for.”
She added: “I hope it will change. Even if it’s not me playing, I would like to see some women’s matches there. But I don’t know that we will.”
Sabalenka leads 2-1 in career head-to-head meetings with Osaka, who is making her first appearance in the fourth round in Paris.
“I’m just ready for the fight,” Sabalenka said. “It’s great to see her back on her level. … I really enjoy our battles. It’s high-level matches, and I really enjoy when somebody push me to the limit.”
(The AP contributed reporting)