Should Male and Female Tennis players pay Equally?

Should Male and Female Tennis players pay Equally

Tennis is a sport which always requires the high standards of fitness levels as well as high skill set to become more successful. Be it a male or female player you need to be more sincere and dedicated about your game in order to succeed. Tennis is a popular sport across the globe and it draws huge revenue and crowd for the traditional tennis tournaments like Wimbledon.

Should Male and Female Tennis players pay Equally

Both male and female games are more popular among the audience and females are holding equal records when compared to men counterparts. Despite having played international level helping the game to reach several new boundaries and drawing huge amount of crowds and revenue to the sport female players are not getting equally paid like their men counterparts. It is quite an unfair thing that is happening over the years and few voices are rising these days against this discrimination. It is an issue that is prevailing over the years and became a never-ending debate. Here are a few reasons why female tennis players should be paid equally like male tennis players.

Female Players Working as Hard as Men

Female Players Working as Hard as Men

As mentioned earlier the game tennis requires more physical fitness as well as mental stability. Player has to withstand his fitness till 3 to 4 hours of play. International tennis federates conducting the grand slam matches on five for men where women require playing 3 sets.  However famous tennis players like Andy Murray argues that women matches will be more interesting if they play for 5 sets.

It was done on the false perception that women will lack the mental and physical toughness to play 5 sets.  A similar phenomenon was considered for long distance running but it was later reviewed and women were allowed to compete in long distance running. Similarly, for tennis women, players should be allowed to play 5 sets and they are very much eager to play. Serena Williams once said that she trains with men tennis players and she believes she can play well and win the 5 set tournaments if conducted.

Women players are also training harder like men and even some matches like 2005 Wimbledon final which lasted 45 minutes higher than men’s final. So it is unfair saying that women play lesser than men and they deserve the right to pay for their hard work.

General Myth called Crowd likes Men’s Tennis than Women’s Tennis

General Myth called Crowd likes Men’s Tennis than Women’s Tennis

This also the general perception that is prevailing among the organizers but in reality this is untrue. Actually, people show more interest in the matches that are played between two popular starts. For instance, the US final between Venus Williams and Serena Williams draws a huge crowd than men’s final. During 1980’s women’s matches are more popular and they draw a huge crowd to the stadium.

Be it, men or women, the TV ratings and spectator’s interest are purely based on the player popularity. Both are playing on the same stadium and both are putting an equal amount of effort to win the game. So it is not a true fact that men alone drawing crowds to the stadium and bring TRP’s to television.

Men Getting Paid same in Women Dominating Games

men in gymnastics

It is unfair to draw the comparison between two sports as each sport will have unique characteristics and features. But in women dominating games like skating and gymnastics where women category is more popular than the men category are getting equal payouts. Which means both men and women are equally paid. So this should apply to tennis as well and women tennis players should get equally like men.

Women not bringing an Equal Amount of Revenue in Endorsements and Sponsors

sharapova in ads

Sponsorship values for men tennis are higher than the women tennis events. Consider the player of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal they are not only the big match players but also the huge brands in the international market. So it is common that these players will bring more sponsors and endorsements.  Comparing with those giants is not fair enough.

Even women tennis players like Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have established themselves as the huge brand these days.  If the pay is equal then it will encourage more kids to take up the sport. Who knows this can produce more superstars to the game. So considering on the sponsors and endorsements paying less is not acceptable.

Longer Contests are not Worthy

Longer Contests are not Worthy

It is an argument that is circulating over the years. Men are playing longer than women in tennis. Longevity of the game will not make any sense winning alone make sense.  Considering the longevity and paying less is not unacceptable, because women are waiting eagerly and ready to play 5 set matches.

Both genders are putting their efforts to succeed in the wonderful game of tennis. The gender discrimination in any sports should not be accepted and the international Olympic committee should take this as a serious issue and should insist all the respective governing federations to pay equally.

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