In the spotlight of Grand Slam tournaments, men and women have been collecting equally high prize money for some time. However, tennis icon Maria Sharapova has now reminded that the fight for equal pay is far from over.
“These are the biggest events with the most attention and media interest. This is compared to the rest of the tour, which spans eight or nine months. The inequality there is crazy and needs to be addressed,” complained the 36-year-old at a media round.
The Russian cited the tournaments currently taking place in China as an example. “This week there is a men’s tournament in Shanghai with prize money of 1.2 million dollars. At the same time there is a women’s tournament in China where the prize money is 120,000 dollars,” said the former top player.
For Sharapova, the women’s association WTA, as the organizer, bears a large part of the blame for this. The marketing of the tournaments is often slow, so not enough attention is generated.
Tennis stars not given enough attention?
The best example is US Open winner Coco Gauff, who recently took part in a competition in Beijing after her triumph in New York. “She made it to the semifinals and lost there. I’m sure: 99 percent of the spectators at the US Open didn’t even know where she was playing next. That’s a problem,” emphasized Sharapova.
The WTA recently announced that it would equalize prize money for all tournaments by 2033. This should be the case for joint events with the ATP, the men’s tournament series, as early as 2027.
This approach has been established at major tournaments for decades. In 1973, the US Open became the first Grand Slam event to introduce equal prize money. The Australian Open followed suit and has been paying equal amounts for men and women since 2001.
This has also been the case at Wimbledon and the French Open since 2007.
2023-10-14 18:35:00
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