#RolandGarros #France #Amazon #battle #broadcast #NadalDjokovic #decided
Flagship poster of the Roland-Garros quarterfinals, the duel between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic unleashes a battle between the two broadcasters of the competition, France Télévisions, and Amazon Prime Video. Both players have also posted their preferences.
Who will broadcast this Tuesday the expected French Open quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal? After the Spaniard’s dazzling qualification against Félix Auger-Aliassime, this question was on everyone’s mind. Principale unfolds the quarterfinals of the day (in addition to Zverev-Alcaraz in the men’s draw, Stephens-Gauff, and Trevisan-Fernandez in the women’s), the 59th duel between the world number one and the Porte d’Auteuil master (13 titles) provokes debates about its programming. The two broadcasters in the competition, France Télévisions, and Amazon Prime Video fight a real duel to broadcast the match.
A night session would change many things
Since the 2021 edition, Amazon has had the privilege of broadcasting the most beautiful lineup of the day during the night session, as well as all the matches on the Simonne-Mathieu track, the third largest stadium in Porte d’Auteuil. The American giant spent 15 million euros to broadcast the 10 night sessions of the fortnight, which no longer allows the public to see the entire competition on the antennas and the France Télévisions platform, which did happen despite co-broadcasting with Eurosport. If the Djokovic-Nadal card is scheduled at night, only Prime Video subscribers will be able to see it.
The last person in charge of the programming, the tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, was going to give a press conference on Monday to address this thorny issue in particular. She won’t be, since her intervention has been postponed until Wednesday morning… the day after the meeting. The mystery will therefore remain whole until the formalization of Monday’s programming. The doubt would not have arisen as to whether the duel was scheduled for the semifinal or the final, since the two teams will co-transmit these posters.
The two players have opposing opinions.
Asked about the subject, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic did not want to create a debate but still gave their preference. The Spaniard recalled on Friday that the night was not his favorite time slot. “I don’t like to play on clay at night. The humidity is higher, and the ball is slower. Conditions can be very tough when it’s cold.” Before putting on a cape on Sunday at a press conference, in a more melodramatic tone. “The match against Djokovic could be my last here. I know Roland-Garros by day. And I would prefer to play by day,” said the man with 21 Grand Slams, who already played at night in the second round against Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
For his part, the number one in the world adopts a very different discourse. “Not bad, he underlined after playing his first round in the night session against Nishioka. Generally, at night, during the Grand Slams, in all the tournaments, the atmosphere is more electric, there is more energy, and the public gets into the game, if very good experience.”
They were fed up with Alcaraz
If “Djokodal” were broadcast during the day and therefore on France Télévisions, which poster would be chosen for the night session? Since the start of the Grand Slam, the women’s draw has only had the honors once, with Alizé Cornet facing Jelena Ostapenko. The quarterfinals offer a 100% American duel between Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff, as well as the card between Martina Trevisan and Leylah Fernandez. Four players who are not in the top 10 in the world.
The other solution would be to schedule the second men’s quarterfinal of the day, namely the match between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz. A program that would not do the young Spaniard any good, already twice at night. “I’m not saying I mind playing in the afternoon, but obviously I have less recovery time, if I finish very late all the time. When we finish at midnight, with everything behind, dinner, the physio.” , trying to go down in terms of adrenaline, it is more difficult to recover. If I play a third time (at night), it honestly seems unfair to me, ”he concluded, after consecutively facing Sebastian Korda and Karen Khachanov at the Parisian. night. It becomes quite a headache for the organization.