Djokovic, Nadal, Federer. In the competition between these three tennis giants, in recent years it was very difficult for anyone else to reach the top in terms of tournament earnings. It’s different now. After 19 years, a woman – Polish woman Iga Šwiateková – can end the dominance of rich men on the courts.
While the men’s tennis world number one changes every moment this year, the women’s circuit has seen a new hegemon this year, who is collecting one great success after another. Only the twenty-one-year-old Polish woman Iga Šwiateková, who, with her triumph at the last Grand Slam of the season, consolidated her sovereign position in all rankings.
And even in the one that measures the tennis earnings of male and female players. This year, the native of Warsaw already earned a luxurious 9,217,225 dollars, i.e. about 226 million crowns.
In contrast, the new king of world tennis, the young Carlos Alcaraz, earned less than two million dollars less. The situation is even worse for the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who even with the earnings of the Serbian Novak Djokovic would only narrowly beat Šwiateková.
This is also helped by the equality of rewards, which are distributed equally to male and female tennis players at the largest and most generous events. This was a big topic in the past.
“Men’s tennis should fight for more rewards, because the numbers clearly show us that we have more spectators at matches than women. This is, in my opinion, one of the reasons why we should be paid better,” Novak Djokovic dug years ago and reaped a storm of criticism for it.
British champion Andy Murray is a big supporter of female tennis players in this regard, according to whom female players make the same sacrifices as men.
So now Šwiateková received a check for $2.6 million during the winner’s ceremony, just like the male winner, Spaniard Alcaraz. “I’m very glad that it’s not in cash,” Polka joked right away.
If she maintains her now commanding lead in the prize rankings, she will do well. After nine years, he will end the dominance of the rich among ATP players.
The last time it was possible was the Belgian Kim Clijsters, who surpassed the Swiss Roger Federer by half a million dollars in the 2003 season. Back then, however, prize money at tournaments was significantly lower, and she earned $4.5 million a year.
