In France, Amazon have the exclusive broadcasting rights for that match through their Prime Video platform in a deal reported to be worth €15 million euros ($22 million) while public broadcaster France Television is reported to have paid €10 million.

The governing body of women’s tennis, the WTA, asked for improvements in tournament scheduling.

“Our fans want to see the excitement and thrill of women’s tennis on the biggest stages and in the premium time slots,” it said in a statement to Reuters.

“There is certainly room for improvement and if we want to build the value of our combined product, then a balanced match schedule is critical in providing that pathway.”

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In all four majors, women also traditionally kick off the day on the main showcourts at 11am - when TV audiences are at their lowest and most spectators are still making their way into the stadium.

It has happened 18 times out of 20 at this year’s French Open.

Wimbledon is the only grand slam tournament without matches scheduled to start at night, while at the US and Australian Opens, a full evening program allows women to get their share of the limelight.

Asked about the scheduling of the night session, Mauresmo told reporters that it would have been “difficult” to put only women’s players on the schedule for spectators with a single ticket for the evening only.

“This is what we wanted to showcase to spectators who had only one-match tickets, because some of them do,” she said.

“It was more difficult to have, of course, a match, a night-session match with only female tennis players.”

Reuters

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Watch every match from Roland Garros ad-free, live & on demand on Stan Sport, with courts streaming in 4K UHD. Coverage of select matches commences on 9GEM from 6.30pm AEST each night.