French Open director Amélie Mauresmo has apologized for saying women's tennis is not as attractive as men's, adding that her comments were taken out of context.
The statements came at a time when the match schedule was questioned. A night match has been included in the clay-court Grand Slam program each day at 21:00 local time (1900GMT) from the first Monday until the quarter-finals.
However, nine of the 10 matches scheduled as a night session have been men's matches, leading to questions that women have been disadvantaged in major tournaments.
In response to questions about the schedule, Mauresmo said the men's matches have more "appeal." "First of all, the comments I made were taken out of the bigger picture, out of context," former Grand Slam champion Mauresmo told Tennis Channel on Thursday. "And I want to apologize to the players who felt really bad about what I said."
"Again, I think that the people who know me, who have known me on and off the track, throughout my career, throughout everything I've done, know that I am a great fighter for equality. rights and women's tennis, women in general".
Tournament Director, former tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, who is entering her first year in the role after taking over from Guy Forget, said it was difficult to put only female players on the schedule for spectators with a single ticket for the night, adding that the tournament would study the possibility of adjusting the format next year.
"Regarding the scheduling, specifically for the night games, my opinion was that having only one game, it's really more difficult to schedule a women's game because we have to take the duration into account," Mauresmo said. "It's the fairest thing for the viewers."
"Next year, to be fairer to the players, it would be nice to have the possibility to put on two matches or maybe a women's match plus a doubles match."
In the four major professional tennis tournaments, women also traditionally start the day on the main courts at 11am, when television ratings are lowest and most spectators are still arriving at the stadium. At this year's French Open it happened 18 of the 20 times.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament where there are no scheduled matches starting in the evening, while at the US and Australian Opens, a full night program allows the women to have their share of the limelight.
