Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but it was a heavy dose of Paris rain that made plain the need to address the gender gap in professional tennis.

During this year’s French Open, torrential rain forced the cancellation of play, rescheduling matches for June 7. The situation placed officials in a bind, especially since the courts do not have lights and thus all the games must be played during daylight hours. Officials decided to schedule the men’s semifinals in the main court and pushed the women’s semifinals to smaller courts, one of which seats only 5,000.