“WTA doesn’t have enough money,” Patrick Mouratoglou drops truth bomb on ATP and WTA after recent equal pay controversy
Patrick Mouratoglou does not think WTA can give pay same as men earn in a given season as they cannot afford it.
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Patrick Mouratoglou (Image Credit: EuroSport)
The pay disparity between men and women is a very important issue in the tennis world. The British newspaper The Financial Times has in its report told about the emerging gap in the earnings of tennis players based on gender. It has revealed that the male tennis players earn 75% more than female tennis players in a season.
Many former and active players gave their take on this issue. Now, superstar coach Patrick Mouratoglou, too has shared his opinions on this issue on social media. Although, he does advocate for equal distribution of prize money between male and female tennis players, however, he also believes that it is not an easy issue to resolve.
“According to @financialtimes, in 2022 the total prize money awarded on the men’s tour has been 75% higher than on the women’s (except the Grand Slam events). Here’s my take on it,” his caption read.
“I think we all would like men and women to be paid the same. The thing that people need to understand is that you have two entities, you have the ATP and you have the WTA. ATP makes a certain amount in terms of business, and WTA makes a certain amount. The amount the ATP makes is much, much bigger than the amount the WTA makes. The TV rights sometimes it’s on the same event it’s ten times more for men than for women. Ten times more. Even if WTA would want to pay women players the same amount as ATP would pay men players, I don’t think they would be able to do it. They can’t afford it,” he is heard telling this in a video shared on social media.
He believes an ATP–WTA merger can smooth the governance, pool the resources and in turn help to bridge the pay disparity between male and female tennis professionals.
“To consider that women should be paid the same percentage as men makes sense. And this would be an equal way to treat both. We can also say that it was in the plans to merge ATP and WTA. It would become possible to pay men and women the same amount and until they are merged, I don’t think it would be possible because just WTA doesn’t have enough money to pay women as much as men,” he added further.
Patrick Mouratoglou has the distinction of coaching some of the top female tennis players which includes – Serena Williams, Coco Gauff and Simona Halep. However, when compared the prize money they earned with the male tennis players, it always stands out lower.
Continue Reading: “It’s so unfair,” Denis Shapovalov questions the massive pay disparity between males and female pros on International Women’s Day
Tennis players too raise this issue
Billie Jean King had always been the crusader of women’s rights in tennis world. During her playing days, she always advocated for equal prize money distribution between male and female tennis players. However, it took many years of constant struggle even in Grand Slams so that female tennis players get equal prize money compared to men.
Billie Jean King threatened to boycott the 1973 US Open on this issue. The US Open became the first major to award both men and women equal prize money. Wimbledon was the last to follow suit and it took Venus Williams made her demands clear in 2007.
Although, in few tournaments such as Masters events, both men and women get the same amount of money for winning the tournament. However, the difference is palpable when ATP 250 tournament is compared with WTA 500 tournament. A male tennis player earns significantly higher when compared to a women tennis player who participates in these tournaments.
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