“It’s time for change,” Ons Jabeur releases her FRUSTRATION over women not getting paid equally to men on the tennis tour
Ons Jabeur expressed the need to bring 'equal pay' structure at the Italian Open, after various tours removed the pay disparity.
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Ons Jabeur( Credits: Internazionali BNL d'Italia)
Ons Jabeur is back on-court to compete at the Italian Open. During her interview at the Italian Open, she openly criticized the prevailing ‘pay disparity’ among the WTA and ATP players at the tournament.
The Italian Open witnesses the top ATP and WTA players competing on the tour. While both play the same game and have the same ticket prices for their matches, still women are rewarded way less than men. The prize money for competing men is $8.5 million and for women is $3.9 million. The huge pay disparity will continue as organizers stated to bring an equal pay structure till 2025. Until then, female players will be doing the same job for lesser pay.
Last year, Jabeur reached the finals of the Rome Open but faced defeat at the hands of Iga Swiatek. The runner-up voiced the need for an ‘equal pay’ structure at the tournament.
“It’s really frustrating. It’s time for a change. It’s time for the tournament to do better”, she said at the press conference. Paula Badosa, who will be playing the Tunisian at the round of 64 in Rome, also expressed her discontentment. She stated that there are no changes in prize money and they just have to compete in the available conditions.
” I don’t know why it’s not equal right now. They don’t inform us. They say this is what you get and you have to play“, she said at the conference. While Italian Open is facing backlash for huge pay discrepancies, other tours have brought the needed changes. The tournaments in California, Florida, and Madrid saw both the WTA and ATP competing for the same prize money. The Grand Slams also provide ‘equal pay’ for both the men and women categories.
Also read: Twitter slams Leylah Fernandez after her first round loss at the Italian open
Ons Jabeur is back to claim the title at the Italian Open
Ons Jabeur has been off-court since her semi-final exit at the Stuttgart Open. Later, the defending champion of the Madrid Open withdrew from the tour due to a calf injury. The Tunisian player is now back on-court to participate in Rome and prepare for the upcoming Grand Slam in Paris.
The 7th seed player had good memories at the last year’s Italian Open. She reached the finals and faced the World No.1 Iga Swiatek. However, she failed to claim her potential title after losing in straight sets. Last year’s finalist is quite prepared to deliver her best tennis on clay as she aims for her maiden Grand Slam at the Roland Garros.
“I think my tennis still works well on clay. It’s not that fast conditions, I have time to execute all my shots. I like to take my time building the point. Then I like sliding, I love playing short balls that work so much on these fields that the ball stays low. I hope to do better than last year here and especially at Roland Garros”, she stated during her pre-tournament conference in Italy.
Jabeur recently won the Charleston Open, after registering her straight-sets win on Belinda Bencic. In Italian Open, she will be facing Paula Badosa in the round of 64 tomorrow.
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Vitasta Singh
(691 Articles Published)