“It’s so unfair,” Denis Shapovalov questions the massive pay disparity between males and female pros on International Women’s Day
Denis Shapovalov used to believe that both male and female tennis players get equal pay for playing in tennis tournaments. But when his girlfriend Mirjam Björklund told him the truth it shocked him.
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Denis Shapovalov (Image Credit: iNews)
Denis Shapovalov is concerned about the gender pay gap between men and women professional tennis players on the occassion of International Women’s Day. This reality dawned upon him when his girlfriend Mirjam Bjorklund made him realize that men and women are on different pay levels when it comes to prize money distribution.
Mirjam Bjorklund is a Swedish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked No.149 in the WTA rankings. She mostly competes in ITF Challenger tournaments, but once she qualified for the WTA 250 tournament. Denis Shapovalov got very excited and naively asked her about her earnings if she plays in the main draw of the tournament.
“Oh, great! You’ll get at least $7,000 just to be in the main draw,” he had said to her.
“Denis … I think it’s like a thousand dollars,” she answered back.
“What are you talking about? How is that possible?” he was shocked to hear that.
Eminent journalist Reem Abulleil shared an article in which the Canadian shared his views on social media.
“Denis Shapovalov credits his girlfriend Mirjam Bjorklund for “opening his eyes” about the gender pay gap. “Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and I want to talk about the gender gap. It’s so unfair. It doesn’t make sense at all,” he writes,” her caption read.
He believes that this inequality is unfair and must be dealt with soon. He understands tennis as a sport has made major progress in the last few years in this direction, bridging the pay gap, but urged that more is needed to be done.
“If you are a female player, your chances of surviving as a pro are a lot lower … because you are a woman,” he said.
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Denis Shapovalov performances this season
The Canadian finished the 2022 season on a high. He was instrumental in helping Team Canada win the Davis Cup tournament. This is for the first time when the North American country won this prestigious tournament.
Hence, it was expected that it would be a breakthrough year for Denis Shapovalov. He started his season by participating in the 2023 Adelaide International 1 tournament. However, he was knocked out by Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. He then participated in the Australian Open. He played valiantly in the third round against Hubert Hurkacz in a five-set marathon match. However, could not win against him.
His form slumped in both the Dallas Open and Del Ray Beach Open as he was knocked out in the first rounds of both the competitions. In the second-round of the Mexican Open, he was defeated by Taylor Fritz. He will start his campaign at the Indian Wells Open soon.
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