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Wednesday, February 19, 2025  
20 Shaban 1446  

Australian Open faces backlash over scheduling of women’s matches

Broadcasters expressed concerns about late scheduling of matches as well
Poland’s Iga Swiatek in action during her third round match against Britain’s Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open. Reuters/File
Poland’s Iga Swiatek in action during her third round match against Britain’s Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open. Reuters/File

The Australian Open has sparked controversy over accusations of sexism after former tennis player Pam Shriver suggested that the tournament is scheduling women’s matches earlier in the day to reserve prime-time slots for men’s matches, The Telegraph reported.

All three of Emma Raducanu’s matches were held in the early sessions in Melbourne, raising concerns that the trend is “becoming commonplace.”

Shriver, a five-time Wimbledon doubles champion, pointed out the scheduling discrepancy following the release of Sunday’s order of play. Two women’s matches—Aryna Sabalenka versus Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff versus Belinda Bencic—were slated to take place first on Rod Laver Arena, followed by men’s matches featuring Jack Draper against Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic versus Jiri Lehecka.

Similar scheduling patterns were observed on Margaret Court Arena, where Paula Badosa was set to compete against Olga Danilovic ahead of Tommy Paul’s match with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. John Cain Arena also followed suit, with Donna Vekic facing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before Alexander Zverev’s match against Ugo Humbert.

Unlike the French Open, which is known for scheduling women’s matches earlier in the day, the decision to place Emma Raducanu’s matches in early slots has raised eyebrows. Despite the well-attended matches, there was widespread surprise that Raducanu’s third-round clash with Iga Swiatek—decisively won by Swiatek 6-1, 6-0—was not scheduled for a later time.

The tournament’s practice of scheduling all top male players concurrently has also led to complications. For instance, in Monday’s night session, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Nick Kyrgios all played at the same time, resulting in empty seats in some arenas and making it difficult for broadcasters to cover the matches effectively.

Broadcasters expressed concerns about the late scheduling of matches as well, highlighted by Daniil Medvedev not starting his match against Learner Tien until 10 pm on day five. The match, which extended to five sets, concluded at 2:55am, further complicating the tournament’s scheduling issues.

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