Moore, until resigning on Monday evening, was the tournament director of the BNP Paribas Open (also known as the Indian Wells Masters). He commented on their physical appearance.
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Moore, who quit his post after a backlash, said: “If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport”. Moore resigned after an apology failed to quell protests, but his behavior is just the tip of an iceberg – that needs to finally melt away.
If women’s tennis had compelling rivalries and was drawing consistently bigger crowds than the men’s, I would honestly advocate that women be paid more.
King founded the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973 to advocate for equal pay while Evert has been an outspoken voice for gender equality in the sport.
“The sport in general needs to improve in all aspects”, Nadal said. They have to go through a lot of different things that we don’t have to go through.
World no. 1 Novak Djokovic certainly fanned the flames with his insistence that players on the ATP World Tour should receive more money because their contests draw more fans. “Stats are showing that we have much more spectators in men’s tennis matches”. Women – and men – do have hormones; the biological nature of woman means that we menstruate, bear children and experience the menopause. He seemed to assert that women have fought, but men should have that ubiquitous opportunity as well.
Perhaps that’s the problem.
With Nadal having a strong career record over Murray, who he beat convincingly on a hardcourt in London in November, I’ll have a punt on him in the bottom section where he’s available at 18/1. A Serena Williams is as popular as a Novak Djokovic. What’s more, the myth that men’s bodies are supposedly “more suited” and therefore “matter more” in the realm of physical performance is maintained.
At the Olympic Games, the equivalent would be 80-meter sprints for women, while men run 100.
Right now, what would you rather watch – a match between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka or a match between Kei Nishikori and Richard Gasquet? At the French Open in June, hospitality packages for the men’s final will cost twice as much as for the women’s final. Again, the matchups were the reason.
“It is just as hard for a woman to play a three-set tennis match than it is for a man to play a five-set tennis match”. One, the women have volunteered to play five sets. He explained that his reasoning was due to his ideology that women “ride on coattails of the men” and that women “don’t make any decisions” and, in turn, are “lucky” because of this.
Have their been improvements for the women?
Women’s sport and female athletic achievement have made substantial strides from the restricted biological determinism of the 19th century. But, on average, the events where the women complete alone tend to offer less money than the men-only tournaments.
As for the unequal pay debate, the money awarded should remain consistent with the efforts that the players put in. “I think it changes them”. “After, in Brazil and Argentina, I did not play at my best level, but I was close to winning those matches too”. Women’s golf, the WNBA, women’s soccer, women’s MMA have all become the subjects of mistreatment, disrespect and ridicule.
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So, how do we say, “No Moore!”? Clearly, there’s still a long way to go.
