Iga Swiatek said “I don’t care” when she was asked about a major issue at the French Open affecting the women.
Ons Jabeur has been among the players calling out the scheduling at the tournament, with female stars snubbed from every single prime-time night session slot so far. The world No. 9 even claimed Swiatek’s match against Naomi Osaka should have been top billing.
But Swiatek prefers to play in the day session. And she thought it was better to ask someone else about the schedule.
Honestly, sorry to say that, but I don’t care, because I’m honestly just focusing on my matches,” the world No. 1 said when asked if French Open schedulers let the women’s game down. “And I like playing during the day, so it’s comfortable for me that I can be scheduled that way.
Swiatek also thought there were other details involved in the order of play, adding: “I think it’s better to ask someone who is responsible for scheduling, at picking these matches. Probably there are many factors coming in, a lot of requests, you know.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion did think it would be nice for players to have more of a say in picking when they played. But she was happy to avoid the night session altogether. “I mean, for me, I’m feeling comfortable playing during the day,” she continued.
If I would say that, you know, it’s wrong for woman’s tennis, I wouldn’t really, you know, say anything that would make my tennis schedule more comfortable, but it would be nice obviously to play and pick hours.”