Gender pay gap questioned again at Cincinnati tennis tournament
Despite playing at the same venue and three-set format, the prize money for the men was $6.6 million, while the women competed for $2.8 million.
By Gilbert Ngabo Sports Reporter
Monday, August 21, 2023
The gender pay gap issue in tennis was once again front and centre at last weekend’s Western & Southern Open.
Despite playing at the same venue and in the same three-set format, the total prize money at the Cincinnati tournament for the men was $6.6 million (all figures in U.S.), while the women competed for just under $2.8 million.
That meant Novak Djokovic took home $1,019,335 after beating Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s epic four-hour showdown, while 19-year-old Coco Gauff received $454,500 in a straight sets win over Karolina Muchova.
As a runner-up on the men’s side, Alcaraz took home $556,630 —more than Gauff received as a champion which angered some tennis fans.
“This is shameful,” Robin Bradford wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. “The total prize money for the women isn’t even equal to what the men had ... in 2012.”
Critics of the pay gap point out that some women tennis players such as the now-retired Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka attract bigger crowds than some of their male counterparts at these high-profile tournaments, yet still get paid significantly less.
“These are independent women who surely don’t need the men from the ATP to top up/subsidize the women’s prize fund. If they pull the same crowds, then where is the money going?” questioned Dustin Gorski.
Among other reasons, tennis officials say the pay difference is primarily driven by the value of the broadcast and sponsorship deals.
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The gender pay gap issue in tennis was once again front and centre at last weekend’s Western & Southern Open.
Despite playing at the same venue and in the same three-set format, the total prize money at the Cincinnati tournament for the men was $6.6 million (all figures in U.S.), while the women competed for just under $2.8 million.
That meant Novak Djokovic took home $1,019,335 after beating Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s epic four-hour showdown, while 19-year-old Coco Gauff received $454,500 in a straight sets win over Karolina Muchova.
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As a runner-up on the men’s side, Alcaraz took home $556,630 —more than Gauff received as a champion which angered some tennis fans.
“This is shameful,” Robin Bradford wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. “The total prize money for the women isn’t even equal to what the men had ... in 2012.”
Critics of the pay gap point out that some women tennis players such as the now-retired Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka attract bigger crowds than some of their male counterparts at these high-profile tournaments, yet still get paid significantly less.
“These are independent women who surely don’t need the men from the ATP to top up/subsidize the women’s prize fund. If they pull the same crowds, then where is the money going?” questioned Dustin Gorski.
Among other reasons, tennis officials say the pay difference is primarily driven by the value of the broadcast and sponsorship deals.
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Prior to the start of the Cincinnati tournament, former world No. 1 Andy Murray suggested the ATP and the WTA should work together.
“I always felt like when we’re competing at the same event on the same courts, that we should be playing for the same prize money,” Murray said, according to tennis365.com
“I don’t think it’s that straightforward just now, that both tours have different sponsors, different TV deals and all of that stuff too.”
The same pay disparity exists in the doubles, with winners Máximo González and Andrés Molteni getting $312,740, while Taylor Townsend and Alycia Parks got $133,840 for taking the women’s title.
The four major Grand Slam competitions — U.S. Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open — have for years offered equal pay, despite the men competing in the best-of-five sets while women play a best-of-three. Several other marquee tennis tournaments also offer equal prize money, but a number of others continue to face criticism including the Italian Open.
At the 2023 National Bank Open in Canada, the men’s purse is $6.6 million while the women split just under $2.8 million.
But the Canadian competition, which alternates its men’s and women’s site between Toronto and Montreal, has started the process to equally distribute the prize money between men and women by 2027. The plan is to gradually reshape the commercial model with an extended competition schedule as new means to generate more revenues.
Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov published an article last March in the Players’ Tribune critical of the pay gap, pointing that it highlights the existing problem of gender inequality in general.
“Maybe I’m being cynical, but I think some people might think of gender equality as mere political correctness. Deep down they don’t feel that women deserve as much, you know? And that’s terrible,” Shapovalov wrote.
“So let’s give everyone the same chance. Let’s pay out the same prize money. Let’s stop talking about reducing the gender gap. If we want tennis to be fair, it should not exist at all.”
https://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/g ... 9d93a.html