French Open boss Amélie Mauresmo set out her vision on Friday for one of the tennis season's most prestigious competitions with a package of innovations to woo spectators.
The 44-year-old former world number one has retitled the five days of qualifying matches for the 128- player main draw "Opening Week" during which fans can also look in on the practice sessions of top players such as Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek.
The idea was trialled during the 2022 tournament.
"The qualifiying matches offer us a huge potential," said Mauresemo during a press conference at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.
"I think allowing access to these sessions will be fantastic. To be able to watch the best players in the world prepare for the tournament will be an unbelievable experience. The players liked it when we did it last year and it went down well with fans too."
Night games on centre court will start at 8.30pm instead of 9pm, said Mauresmo to avoid the chaos of marathon matches finishing during the early hours of the morning when public transport has terminated.
Chances
"It's not possible for the operators of the transport system to change its timetable for the last metros," added Mauresmo. "It will be the same for the Olympics next year."
Last year's schedule of night matches also raised eyebrows on a sex equality level. There was only one women's match in the 10 night sessions.
For the 2023 tournament - where there will be 11 matches - Mauresmo rejected talk of a quotia. "We want to wait until the draw is done," she said. "And wait on the day to see what matches we might have and which one is going to be the best - the match of the day. For me everything is open."
However, she was more cagey about whether Yannick Noah would present the trophy to the men's champion on 11 June.
Forty year's ago, Noah beat the Swede Mats Wilander 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 to claim the French Open - the last time the crown was hoisted by a local hero and the last time a Frenchman triumphed at one of the major tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
Noah, though, will be honoured with a special ceremony to salute his victory during the fortnight.
And before the first round starts on 28 May gets underway, the 62-year-old will be honoured with the unveiling of a fresco within the Roland Garros stadium. The pre-tournament charity event will also be renamed Yannick Noah Day.
It's going to be nice for us to celebrate his victory 40 years ago," said Mauresmo. "And for me personally, it's going to be very emotional ... his victory is why I started playing tennis and so to be tournament director now and doing this for him, I feel proud and happy about it."
