Amelie Mauresmo, the French Open’s tournament director, has very much been in the limelight across the last two weeks.
After all, when it comes to this Grand Slam, the buck stops with her, and thus any issues with the event are levelled in her direction.
There are bound to be hiccups throughout the course of such a high-profile event, but one issue that consistently cropped up was one that she seemingly could, or would not fix.
And, it was quite a crucial one, as the numerous pictures of a half-empty Philippe Chatrier certainly do not reflect well on Mauresmo’s tournament…
Amelie Mauresmo reacts to empty seats at Roland Garros
Continuing to address the French Open’s biggest controversies, just after Mauresmo stated what women must do to ensure night matches at the French Open going forward, the tournament director then moved on to the seating problem.
After all, too many times throughout the event has Philippe Chatrier looked bare, despite there being a blockbuster played out on court.
These are some of the most impressive athletes on the planet, and they deserve to be supported as such.
Questioned what she plans to do about the disappointingly visible empty seats, particularly in the morning sessions handed to the women, Mauresmo’s answer was quick and blunt.
She stated: ‘Well, as I said, it was not all perfect in this tournament. We are aware of this, and we will definitely work on the solutions that we can find for the future.
‘And there’s not much other than this. I said in French that we’re gonna have in two weeks our debrief altogether and definitely talk about these subjects and see how we can make it work better.’
Should the French Open prioritise profits or reputation?
It’s a tricky balance that Mauresmo needs to find, between retaining the honour and reputation of the event and making a profit.
The likelihood is that all of the tickets for Philippe Chatrier were sold, but clearly to people who were not overly keen on spending an entire day watching non-stop tennis.
So, whilst she got what she wanted in terms of money spent on tickets, it meant that so many pictures emerged of a half-empty stadium.
There’s also a chance that people were picking and choosing which day session matches to prioritise, which is well within their rights. However, if someone was to depart early, that would leave their seat guaranteed to be empty for the rest of the day.
Wimbledon offers a solution for this issue with a resale platform within the grounds, allowing people to snag tickets onto the biggest courts for a fraction of the price.
This helps keep some money ticking over, whilst maintaining that aforementioned reputation as the stadiums remain full.
Whatever she decides, Mauresmo needs to ensure that the main controversies from this year’s Roland Garros do not follow her into 2026.
