An historical tennis debate roared to the entrance of the French Open scene as soon as once more as Coco Gauff gained the ladies’s singles titles, as individuals arguing on social media concerning the size of units females play at Roland Garros – together with Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian.
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Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka two units to 1 on Saturday, June 7 to assert the prize simply at some point earlier than Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner stretched to an epic 5 hours and 29 minutes in a five-set traditional, setting a report because the longest Roland Garros last in historical past.
Subsequently, on-line speak was not targeted on the achievements of those athletes however centered across the legitimacy of ladies’s tennis compared to males’s, because of the distinction in match codecs as Gauff was not required to win three units for victory.
One consumer posted to X.com, previously Twitter, “Sadly, I consider ladies’s tennis will problem ever be seen as equal if they do not play best-of-5 units.
“There’s simply no means you may mediatically compete with this within the eyes of the common spectator.”
The remark struck a nerve, significantly with Ohanian who married the 23-time Grand Slam winner in 2017 and has been aware about the calls for and struggles in her quest to grow to be one of many biggest athletes of all-time.
“As somebody who found tennis via the ladies’s sport,” Ohanian responded. “I fell in love with the drama of each level mattering.
After I lastly watched a males’s match, I used to be confused. 5 units? It made the early video games really feel like warm-up acts as an alternative of high-stakes battle.
“The strain was diluted, not heightened.”
The distinction in match codecs between the ATP and WTA, has lengthy been some extent of competition. Some argue it undercuts the perceived endurance and functionality of feminine gamers.
Others consider it fits the WTA’s sooner, high-stakes pacing and even Amelie Mauresmo, French Open Event Director and former WTA star, has beforehand expressed help for extending ladies’s Grand Slam finals to 5 units.
But regardless of such endorsements, change has but to materialize. The WTA stays rooted in its conventional format, and for now, so does the controversy.
Ohanian backs ladies’s sports activities in Europe
In the meantime, Ohanian continues to point out that advocacy goes past phrases. Along with defending the WTA, he is investing closely in ladies’s sports activities. His involvement started in 2020 as a founding investor in Angel Metropolis FC, an NWSL group in Los Angeles.
And even in June 2025, he introduced a brand new enterprise: turning into a minority proprietor and board member of Chelsea FC Girls – considered one of England’s most revered and profitable feminine soccer groups.
I’ve guess huge on ladies’s sports activities before-as the founding management proprietor of @weareangelcity-and I am doing it once more,” Ohanian introduced. “I am honored for the possibility to assist this iconic membership grow to be America’s favourite @barclayswsl group and far, way more.”
