Will come, will not come, will play or not, if so, how to schedule your matches? Rafael Nadal asks many questions to the organizers of Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9) who are delighted with the commissioning of the new roof on the Suzanne Lenglen court. “We keep our fingers crossed, for him, but also for us, because we want to welcome him here at Roland-Garros. He is at home and he knows it,” commented Thursday during a press conference presentation of the 2024 edition, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, in reference to the physical difficulties experienced by Nadal for his return to the circuit.
The Spaniard, who will turn 38 on June 3 in the middle of Roland-Garros, is due to play his third match on clay on Thursday at the Masters 1000 in Madrid since his 14th title in Paris… in 2022. Last week, he was logically beaten in the second round in Barcelona by the Australian Alex De Minaur. “Knowing whether there will be a tribute or not, this year, next year, is very dependent on him and the decisions he makes. We are waiting to see and we will follow his wishes,” insisted Mauresmo.
Brain teaser
“This subject will be central in the programming. We will meet and we will see what is best… perhaps for Rafa. Or for the tournament… We will talk about it. But yes, it will be a subject which will lead to debate,” admitted Mauresmo. This year, the tournament will in any case benefit from a second retractable roof, on the Suzanne Lenglen court, after that of Philippe-Chatrier. “This roof will allow us, in the event of bad weather, to have a little more flexibility in our programming and in the progress of the matches throughout this fortnight,” underlined Mauresmo. However, she ruled out the possibility of organizing night sessions there like on Central. “Roland-Garros was the last Grand Slam event to offer only one indoor court. This will no longer be the case. Four years after the Central, the Suzanne Lenglen is finally equipped with a retractable roof”, welcomes Amélie Mauresmo.
“We quickly understood that the stadium as a whole could not absorb the daytime population and 15,000 people waiting to enter the Chatrier, plus 10,000 others waiting to enter the Lenglen,” explained Mauresmo. would have been too risky. So we obviously thought about this option, but we quickly ruled it out for security reasons.” This roof, whose structure is lighter than that of the Chatrier roof, closes in around fifteen minutes. It will be inaugurated on Sunday May 26, during the first day of the main draw, but “can be used during the qualifying week” if necessary, added Mauresmo. During this qualification week, 75,000 people are expected, 50% more than last year. As for the scheduling of night sessions, often criticized for giving too much emphasis to men’s matches at the expense of women’s, Mauresmo remained firm in his position.
“As we have done from the start, it is the athlete who will decide: the match of the day. I have no obligation for fairness. If we have a great women’s match, we will offer it. If it is “It’s more masculine, it will be masculine. We don’t have a quota to respect,” she insisted. She also repeated the negative a priori of the French Major to the disappearance of lines judges, which will be generalized on the ATP circuit from 2025. But she did not close the door. “We are very attached to people and to the lines judges, insisted the tournament director. We will see how this 2024 edition goes and we will talk about it. We will not be afraid to put this question on the table. table and to move forward with what we have decided. But, basically, it will not be our priority, that’s clear.” Among the other new features, an 11th night session will appear and the ticket office will be completely dematerialized to be able to present their tickets. Spectators will therefore have to download the Roland-Garros application.