The debate on whether female tennis players should be getting the same pay as their male colleagues seems to rage on forever, with players taking sides for various reasons. Rafael Nadal, one of the legends of the sport opened up on his stance when he was posed with this question at a press conference by a female reporter in 2018.
He reacted, “Why women earn more than men in fashion industry?” Rafa was of the opinion, that whoever has a larger following should earn more and that should apply to tennis as well. These comments of Nadal come on the backdrop of the fact that not a single woman made it to the Forbes’ 2018 list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes.
Rafa’s take on the debate got spread in the entire world like wildfire. Many came in support of the Spaniard but it can’t be denied that he took a lot of heat for his bold take. Fans took to social media to trash him in every possible way.
gosh this is disappointing. this answer is just……..,,, a typical trash male answer. https://t.co/28cFDIwDgw
— #22 !!!!! (@madridnadal) June 9, 2018
Turns out that you don’t need a brain in order to win 16 Grand Slams https://t.co/0JfEDGUIAb
— Emanuela (@89Emanuela) June 10, 2018
The Williams sisters have echoed the views of 39-time Grand Slam winner, Billie Jean King who has always advocated for lesser pay disparity between genders. Andy Murray has also supported the equal pay saying, “I’m totally behind equal prize money and I think that it is brilliant that a lot of the tournaments on the tour that we have that..”
But, Novak Djokovic was someone who was skeptical stating, “They fought for what they deserve and they got it. On the other hand, I think that our men’s tennis world, ATP world, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men’s tennis matches…” He was of the opinion that both genders should fight individually for what they deserve.
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka proved Rafael Nadal wrong
The women’s final of the US Open 2023 was historic in more ways than one. Though Coco Gauff became the youngest American to clinch the title after Serena Williams in 1999, her match against Aryna Sabalenka was a milestone in the viewership ratings in women’s sports. It has indeed overtaken the men’s final and created a record for the most-watched women’s Grand Slam Final on ESPN.
According to reports, their match attracted 3.4 million viewers whereas it was only 2.3 million who turned up to watch the men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. The ESPN network has stated that the women’s final was the most watched women’s final of any Grand Slam. According to reports, that is a surge of 92% from last year’s championship.
Coco’s victory was also claimed to be the second most viewed US Open telecast after the 2002 final between the Williams sisters. The 2023 US Open women’s final has also enabled the weekend’s overall tournament viewership to rise up to 2.8 million and it is considered to be the second-most viewed US Open of all time on ESPN.
The Battle of the Sexes was played 50 years ago today.
More than a tennis match, it was a catalyst for social change & one of the most important days of my life.
We have come a long way since 1973, but we are not done yet.
Let’s keep going for it.
📷:@GettySport #BOTS50 pic.twitter.com/J5S7eeYXOr
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 20, 2023
So, it has added weightage to the perspective of legends like Billie Jean King who have fought for equal pay, the 50th anniversary of which was celebrated at this year’s US Open. Two separate entities, ATP and WTA are handling the marketing of their own genders. Though Nadal was right in considering men’s tennis drew more people, women’s tennis is catching up fast and the numbers strongly back it up.