Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Women’s tennis is just as enthralling as men’s
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“Embarrassing”, “pitiful” and “pathetic” were just some of the words used by the global press to describe last month’s Australian Open final between Serena Williams and Dinara Safina.
Some observers went even further and suggested women should give up their right to receive equal prize money after Williams walloped the Russian in just 59 minutes to claim her 10th grand slam crown.
The tennis police have extremely short memories. While everyone was quick to compare it to Rafael Nadal’s heart-stopping 4-1/2 hour epic win over Roger Federer in Melbourne, people have forgotten it was only eight months ago when the Swiss won a paltry four games in the French Open final against his Spanish nemesis.
In fact, on that occasion Federer won fewer games than Roland Garros runner-up Safina had a day earlier in the women’s showpiece match against Ana Ivanovic. Were people expecting Federer to hand back some of his prize money simply because he had failed to produce his A-game against Nadal? Of course not.
While there is no doubt that the Federer-Nadal thriller in Melbourne will live long in people’s memories, it should be noted that it was the first five-set men’s final in Melbourne for 21 years.
In that same time, the women’s finale in Australia has gone down to the wire six times — including the 2002 classic when Jennifer Capriati saved four match points before sneaking past Martina Hingis.
Also, the men’s game has effectively become a two-horse race over the past four years. In the 16 majors that have been contested since the 2005 French Open, either Nadal or Federer have claimed the top prize 15 times.
Over the same period, the women’s roll of honour lists champions such as Venus and Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Kim Clijsters and Ivanovic.
All four majors in 2008 were won by different women and the battle for supremacy became so intense that the top ranking changed hands six times until Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic won the final round of musical chairs to clinch the coveted year-end prize.
Proving that women’s tennis remains unpredictable, Serena has already snatched that top spot for herself this year.
As Jankovic said: “It’s irrelevant to compare men’s tennis and women’s tennis… which by the way is probably more enthralling.
“It’s a big battle between something like five players, so you never really know who is going to prevail, it’s very hard to guess who will be number one.”
The same cannot be said of men’s tennis.
PHOTO: Serena Williams poses with her trophy after winning the women’s singles final against Russia’s Dinara Safina at the Australian Open in Melbourne Jan. 31, 2009. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic
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Could not agree more. And Roger is not much better than a teenage girl when it comes to fight against Rafa.
I think that this article is very disengenuous…….I like tennis period……In past years I have liked the women game better than the mens….but usually i have liked both…….I think there is a huge problem with womens tennis right now….THere is a huge lack of creativity……a lot of players are not fit enough……..
Currently most of the top twenty just smash the ball as hard as they can…..it is power with little fitness—- I personally do not enjoy the womens game at all…It seems that lately they trade turns at not wanting to win finals ……….
It is true that Rafael Nadal steamrolled Federer in last years final….but the shotmaking by both was still incredible…….I cannot say that about the Australian Open Womans final………
I dont expect every final to be a classic I just think that this article is trying to hide the fact that there is a paucity in womens tennis right now…….not that they are not good athletes === they are……but a paucity in shot selection styles and tactics employed t
I assume that this is just part of an evolution leading to exciting developments for
the womens game……….for the future
You Cannot Be Serious!!!! The WTA has no business anywhere near the ATP. The current crop of women’s players are …Boring, Boring, and even more Boring. With the loss of Seles, Graff, Justine Henin, and an injured Sharapova the women’s field has never been weaker and less talented. Even the less than dedicated Serena wins by default. Appropos Federer’s comments about Jelena Jankovic reaching number one. The men’s game is much more entertaining, competitive and the rivalries are riveting with the likes of Federer, Murray, Nadal, Djokovic. Nothing like that on the women’s side right now. Moreover, men have to play 5-set matches in the Majors while the women three. The men’s 1000th ranked player can easily beat any of the top ranked women. Yet the politically correct WTA demands equal prize money all the while knowing that the women players are less talented and work less. The tours should be scheduled separately. As a fan of the ATP it is no fun waiting around for a women’s doubles match to finish before being able to watch one of Rafa’s matches. Thanks.
Gridlock, you are way off the mark. The grandslams are run like a business. If they see it fit to pay equal money, then who is anyone to say that they shouldn’t? While I play tennis and love both men’s and women’s tennis, I find it ridiculous to compare the ability of a man to a woman’s. That would be like trying to compare women’s ability to give birth to….. what on the men’s side??????
Everyone deserves what they work for, women work hard and just because they do not have the same phyisical abilities than a man, does not mean that women are less an athelete than men.
Writing off women’s tennis because it doesn’t look good in comparison to the men’s is a bit unfair. Federer-Nadal is not just a great tennis rivalry, it’s shaping up to be one of the great sporting rivalries, and not much is going to stand direct comparison.
The thing is, Fed v Nadal may not have that much longer to run. If one of them gets injured or loses a touch of inspiration or desire we’ll be back with a one-horse race. Great.
One other vital point that is so conveniently left out of conversations – that women are not putting in equal work before demanding the equal pay. It is shameful that it was allowed in the first place, and reprehensible on part of these women tennis players to greedily shovel in the money without putting in their fair share of work. Such impropriety, rapacity and immorality denigrates all women, discounting the painstaking and diligent efforts made by so many who envisioned a future with parity, ethics and equal opportunities.
Interesting article and nice to have someone speaking up for women’s tennis. I too, remembered last year’s Roland Garros final when everyone was going apesh*t over the Serena/Safina match.
Bottom line: Tennis is entertainment, not office work. If your argument is that women spend less time on court and should therefore be paid less, then guys who win their matches in three sets should be paid less than guys who win in five. And what about women’s matches (like the great Dokic/Kleybanova match) that went three long sets? Maybe Dokic should be paid more for that match than one of Nadal’s steamroll straight sets victories? It gets pretty ridiculous when you think about it which is why equal prize money at major tournaments works on a symbolic level. (You non-equal pay people should be happy to hear that the WTA still doesn’t measure up to the ATP when it comes to prize money parity at lesser tournaments.)
All of you who call it shameful and greedy really need to relax – this is entertainment and the Williams sisters, Sharapova, Jankovic and in Australia, Dokic, bring in the fans and sponsor money just like Roger and Rafa do.
There are bigger issues of inequality to get worked up over than prize money for already well-off male and female athletes. . .
Womens Tennis is DEAD. not worth wathing
I don’t think the Aussie Open changing hands so many times and all four majors last year being won by different women means the game’s is in good shape. It just shows there isn’t anyone as good as Navratilova, Graf, Hingis or Henin capable of dominating – otherwise someone like Jelena Jankovic wouldn’t reach number one without yet winning a slam (or really looking likely to).
Comparatively men’s tennis is in the rudest health its been for years but remember post-Sampras and pre-Federer, it struggled at the top for quality while the Williams’, Mauresmo and Hingis were all at their peak. These things always go in cycles.
By the way, I love the idea of the Tennis Police, even if they do have short memories.
Women’s tennis is not as popular as men’s that is why they should get less money than the men. There are hundreds of facts that support this: from television ratings to prize funds in single-sex tournaments to the prices of corporate hospitality packages for the men’s and women’s finals at Wimbledon (the men’s cost hundreds of pounds more). The women play shorter matches so they sell less advertising. How can a one hour match be worth the same to a broadcaster as a three hour match, even if they do for once get the same rating.
The equal prize money is an outrage brought about by ruthlessly selfish players and a morally degenerate PC media. It reflects a world view in which women must always be treated equally, except where they are already advantaged. The result of applying this world view across the board would be – and is increasingly in practice – a world in which men are collectively victims of massive injustice.
Women should be treated fairly; so should men.
It is very easy to determine if the women deserve equal pay. Separate the men from the women in majors. Play them on separate dates. Let us see how many people will go to watch the women. Let us see if women’s tennis, by themselves and not coattailing on the men, can attract sponsors and viewers as well as men’s tennis. Then we will know how much prize money they should get.
Sorry Tennis… didn’t quite catch that?
Let us dispel some myths firstly:
Womens sport does not lack talent
Women sporters do not train less hard than the men
Womens sport is not less interesting to watch
Yes less women play sports than men, but this gap is decreasing and in the last Olympics the split was 50:50.
The womens game goes in cycles just like the mens game, some years there is more drama than others
Womens bodies do not equip them to compete at the same level as men – but they still push their bodies to the limit like the men.