Nick Kyrgios recently pulled out of the US Open and Cincinnati Open. He has been out of tour this season due to injuries. Kyrgios had a stellar season last year, but it was the complete opposite this time, as the 2023 season has not been his best season. He is expected to make a comeback on the court next year at Melbourne. The Australian has been a regular presence on all news platforms for various reasons.
Kyrgios, this time took the debate of equal play in tennis. The debate has always been the sport in various events. The wage gap has considerably reduced in most events, but it is still present. It started with Kyrgios reacting to Andy Murray talking about the issue. The 28-year-old reacted on Twitter to Murray’s statements with a shaken emoji. The three-time grand slam champion has been an active supporter of the wage gap movement for a long time.
Kyrgios further went on to share an Instagram story, which had a video of Rafael Nadal talking about the prize money. Nadal spoke about the fashion industry, where women are paid more than men. The Spaniards said that they don’t talk about it all day long even though men are getting paid less. He said it differs in many professions.
Nick Kyrgios gets answers from fans about prize money
Many players have insisted that tennis is still facing the issue of equal pay for men and women. Billie Jean King demanded equal pay for all players back in 1973 while forming the Women’s Tennis Association. Presently, all four grand slams have equal pay for the players. Indian Wells and Miami masters, too, have the same prize money for men and women. But other events have prize money considerably high for men as compared to women.
Maria Kostyuk pointed out last year the difference in prize money between the two events. She had posted the screenshot on Twitter, which showed the gap. Serena Williams and Venus Williams have fought for years to introduce equal prize money in all events. Recently, Nick Kyrgios mentioned that the women’s winner at Wimbledon had earned more than the men’s runner-up. It generated backlash as fans immediately pointed out that Marketa Vondrousova had won the title while Novak Djokovic had lost the final.
It was unclear why Kyrgios compared both the prize money as winners clearly earn more. World No.92 tried to justify the gap in pay but could not get his message through. It is time for all the events to start recognizing these issues. Like Murray said, the tennis organizations will have to come together to make the decisions. Players can influence the organizations, but the final step will have to be taken by them.