Top players approach the WTA with list of demands including fixed wage pay as they complaint of rising issues on the Tour

Wertheim claims that the women have sent a demand letter which says that the WTA Tour has become extremely demanding on them.

Top players approach the WTA with list of demands including fixed wage pay as they complaint of rising issues on the Tour

Steve Simon, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek (Credits: Tennis.com, The Independent, India Today)

As per a Twitter user, Jon Werthiem, the majority of the top 20 women players in tennis have approached the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) with certain demands. One of the major asks is proper wage as per the ranking of the players.

Wertheim claims that the women have sent a letter that says that the WTA Tour has become extremely demanding on them. It creates mental and physical stresses which are not sustainable in the long run. It should be noted that no American player is among these demanders.

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As per their demand, the top 100 should be paid $500K, players in the ranking of 101 to 175 should be paid $200K and players ranked between 176 to 250 should receive $100K.

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The wage gap between the male and female players is humongous. As per Perfect Tennis, the average earnings of the top 10 ATP players in 2021 was $5,983,539. Unfortunately, their female counterparts received $2,811,484 as annual wage in 2021. A total whopping difference of around $3 Million.

The Grand Slam events have fixed equal wages for both categories, but the 250, 500, and 1000 Masters events have yet to make such a change. This is interesting because the number of sets to be won by male and female players in these events are the same, still, there is a disparity.

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Tension between women players and the WTA

For its complicated scheduling, the WTA has drawn various criticism from top players. There were a series of instances where matches scheduled for the night would get delayed and in some cases go on till early in the morning.

Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek
Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek (Credits: CNN, Tennis 365, Wikipedia and India Today)

Players like Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina have openly called out the WTA for their insensitive approach. Such incidents cause a lot of physical and mental toll on the players.

Also, the gap between two immediate matches get reduced. The players often have to play back-to-back matches which can cause exhaustion. During the Canadian Open, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula faced each other in the singles match. Pegula emerged victorious. But due to the scheduling both the players, who are also doubles partners, played together in the doubles match a few hours later.

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