The first night session at the French Open was held in 2021.
Roland-Garros introduced evening play on Monday, May 31, 2021, when Serena Williams faced Irina-Camelia Begu on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The match began at 9 p.m. local time and became the first official night-session match in the tournament’s history.
The change was part of a broader modernization of the French Open. Organizers had rebuilt Court Philippe-Chatrier with a retractable roof and expanded the venue, making later starts more practical and helping the tournament attract larger television audiences.
The timing can cause confusion because night-session plans were discussed before 2021, and the 2020 tournament was postponed to September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first actual night session, however, took place in 2021, not 2019, 2020, or 2022.