'TRIGGERING AND PAINFUL': PAM SHRIVER CRITICISES TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR'S PRIMETIME STANCE

Amélie Mauresmo has been under fire throughout the French Open. (Getty/Tnani Badreddine)

A longtime advocate for women's tennis, former world No.3 Pam Shriver has slammed French Open Tournament Director Amélie Mauresmo for her "disappointing" attitude in relation to primetime.

In what continues to be a major talking point in Paris, one match is scheduled on Court Philippe-Chatrier for the night session, with that slot assigned to men only.

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However, Mauresmo, a former world No.1, remains firm on the tournament's controversial decision, citing that there is more value for money in a best-of-five as opposed to a best-of-three.

She was recently forced to double down on the decision, but after a reporter asked what she thought the consequences were of telling women they're not worthy, the 45-year-old offered clarification.

"That’s not what we are saying. I have to stop you right there," Mauresmo said.

"For me, the message I always said and I will repeat.. as I said, the conditions haven't changed from having one unique match in the evening. For me, the message is not changing.

"It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. It's never been this. I will not accept that you carry this message. That's really clear to me. What I'm saying is I'm talking and we are talking, because I'm not the only one to make the decisions about potential match length. In this perspective, it is hard to say that the two sets can go really fast when the three sets, you have three sets minimum. So it's one and a half hours, two hours, maybe more.

"For me, it's the length of the matches. It's not how they play or the level they reach right now. I'm not talking about this."

When Mauresmo then asked the reporters what they would do in her situation, one journalist replied: "What would I do? You really wanna know? I would solve the problem so the women don't receive the message that you're not trying to give them."

The conversation ended after Mauresmo suggested that they could come back and discuss the issue on the final Sunday of the tournament.

Women's tennis has grown leaps and bounds, receiving deserved recognition and closing the gap on gender equality, a legacy pioneered by 39-time Slam champion Billie Jean King.

Appearing on an episode of The Tennis Podcast, Shriver expressed her anger at Mauresmo and the people involved in the decision-making process.

"It's extremely triggering, painful and disappointing to have a player, former WTA Tour player, who got to No.1 in the world, is in the Hall of Fame, who basically earned her $15 million plus prize money, not including all the endorsements, exhibitions, every opportunity that she had on the back of the 'Original Nine' led by Billie Jean King furthered along by Martina [Navratilova] and Chrissie [Evert], to have a Tournament Director with that CV, that background, basically slapping women's tennis in the modern day version of 2025 is horrendous to hear," the American said passionately.

"I'm sorry for the young players, the daughters who don't really understand because they weren't alive in the 70s and 80s when the original frontier [were fighting] this battle.

"In 2001, primetime women's final was established on CBS, one of our main three Networks, and the ratings for that primetime first-ever match, obviously it was sensational. But the US market, the US culture was ready to embrace."

Former US Open champion Coco Gauff admitted the tournament needed to "improve" scheduling to promote women's matches during primetime viewing, while Ons Jabeur shared her thoughts after exiting the opening round.

"It's still sad that we are still seeing this," the two-time Wimbledon finalist said in a press conference.

"I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this."

The former world No.2 also shared a touching message on social media, defending women's tennis amid mistreatment.

The last women's match to be played on Philippe-Chatrier for the night session was two years ago when Aryna Sabalenkla faced Sloane Stephens in the fourth-round.

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