Equal pay in tennis ?

Having watched Nadal and Muller play 5 sets ( 65 games ) should women still get the same money for 3 sets ?

The decision to give them the same money is nothing more than political correct nonsense. It also is nonsense that the media is calling an Australian woman with Hungarian parents a British woman.

Having watched Nadal and Muller play 5 sets ( 65 games ) should women still get the same money for 3 sets ?

Do you think all that tennis players do is turn up and play the game? Do you not think that men and women train similar amounts, have similar amounts of sponsor commitments, do similar amounts of media interviews etc? Lets just focus on the slams as well as tour matches have both men and women only playing 3 sets don't forget.

There are 7 rounds in Wimbledon so an average would be 3 matches per player. Lets assume that EVERY match goes the distance so 5 sets for men and 3 for women. Average set length for both men and women is roughly 30 mins (a bit longer but for ease of maths...). So a man would play an average of 7.5 hours of tennis, and a women 4.5 hours. There are 4 slams a year, so across a whole year there is just 12 hours difference in total time spent on court for an average player. Let's assume that players train 5 days a week for about 6 hours a day, so 30 hours per week for 40 weeks a year (12 weeks would be holidays or time at a tournament so not counting those). So that's 1200 hours of training a year that would be similar for men and women.

In terms of total work done women do 0.1% less than men based on doing 3 sets at slams instead of 5. Yup, lets pay them less. Totally fair.

---------- Post added 11-07-2017 at 13:34 ----------

The decision to give them the same money is nothing more than political correct nonsense. It also is nonsense that the media is calling an Australian woman with Hungarian parents a British woman.

Last time I checked the requirements to be British were British citizenship.

Do you think all that tennis players do is turn up and play the game? Do you not think that men and women train similar amounts, have similar amounts of sponsor commitments, do similar amounts of media interviews etc? Lets just focus on the slams as well as tour matches have both men and women only playing 3 sets don't forget.

 

There are 7 rounds in Wimbledon so an average would be 3 matches per player. Lets assume that EVERY match goes the distance so 5 sets for men and 3 for women. Average set length for both men and women is roughly 30 mins (a bit longer but for ease of maths...). So a man would play an average of 7.5 hours of tennis, and a women 4.5 hours. There are 4 slams a year, so across a whole year there is just 12 hours difference in total time spent on court for an average player. Let's assume that players train 5 days a week for about 6 hours a day, so 30 hours per week for 40 weeks a year (12 weeks would be holidays or time at a tournament so not counting those). So that's 1200 hours of training a year that would be similar for men and women.

 

In terms of total work done women do 0.1% less than men based on doing 3 sets at slams instead of 5. Yup, lets pay them less. Totally fair.

 

---------- Post added 11-07-2017 at 13:34 ----------

 

 

Last time I checked the requirements to be British were British citizenship.

I agree with you the men and women do play the same in all but the slams and it is quite right that they get the same. But I think they should play the same in the slams either 3 or 5 sets preferably 5.

I vaguely remember something that most of the top women were happy to play 5 sets and didn't really understand why they didn't. Apologies for the links to Quora but it's the most succinct answer:

https://www.quora.com/Tennis-Why-dont-grand-slams-introduce-best-of-five-sets-matches-for-women-too

Basically both the WTA and the top woman have tried to get 5 sets introduced at slams but it's the tournaments that are stopping it, therefore it would be highly unfair to pay woman less than men on that basis.

However, no sports work in that way. Money is prize money like commission for sales staff. It has no link to effort only outcome. And as the prize money is nearly always made up of profits from ticket sales and sponsorship then that will be the defining factor in the 'pay'. A few years ago womens tennis was more desirable than mens. Tickets for the womens final at Wimbledon sold out quicker than the mens and has higher resale values. The VIP seats were also more expensive. On that basis should the womens prize money should have been higher than the mens that year?

Should women get the same prize money as men? No, they should get equal percentages as the men get based on the ticket sales and sponsorship in individual events but for the best players who are retained for British sport then they should get the same taxpayer money as that isn't linked to prize money as such.

Hope that makes some sense?

I vaguely remember something that most of the top women were happy to play 5 sets and didn't really understand why they didn't. Apologies for the links to Quora but it's the most succinct answer:

https://www.quora.com/Tennis-Why-dont-grand-slams-introduce-best-of-five-sets-matches-for-women-too

 

Basically both the WTA and the top woman have tried to get 5 sets introduced at slams but it's the tournaments that are stopping it, therefore it would be highly unfair to pay woman less than men on that basis.

 

However, no sports work in that way. Money is prize money like commission for sales staff. It has no link to effort only outcome. And as the prize money is nearly always made up of profits from ticket sales and sponsorship then that will be the defining factor in the 'pay'. A few years ago womens tennis was more desirable than mens. Tickets for the womens final at Wimbledon sold out quicker than the mens and has higher resale values. The VIP seats were also more expensive. On that basis should the womens prize money should have been higher than the mens that year?

 

Should women get the same prize money as men? No, they should get equal percentages as the men get based on the ticket sales and sponsorship in individual events but for the best players who are retained for British sport then they should get the same taxpayer money as that isn't linked to prize money as such.

 

Hope that makes some sense?

The only justification for women tennis players receiving the same pay as men tennis players, is if they compete against each other. A woman doctor gets paid the same as a male doctor because they do the same job as a male doctor. A woman doctor doesn't just treat patients who are just a bit unwell, but treats all patients.

The only justification for women tennis players receiving the same pay as men tennis players, is if they compete against each other. A woman doctor gets paid the same as a male doctor because they do the same job as a male doctor. A woman doctor doesn't just treat patients who are just a bit unwell, but treats all patients.

Slightly off topic but women's tennis is much more interesting with:

A) No Serena

B) A top quality Brit.

Oftentimes Women's tennis is just too uncompetitive, but the Konta v Halep match was easily the equal to the men's game.

Imagine a Wimbledon without Fed, Djok, Murray and Nadal. You'll find that the wOmens game would become much more interesting and lucrative than the Ace fest that so often befalls the men.

IMHO the women are as much part of the tournament as the men sondeeerve their equal share.

Cilic made to semi final, tomorrow against Querey.

Without Nadal and Novak he can take Wimbledon this year!

Slightly off topic but women's tennis is much more interesting with:

A) No Serena

B) A top quality Brit.

 

Oftentimes Women's tennis is just too uncompetitive, but the Konta v Halep match was easily the equal to the men's game.

Imagine a Wimbledon without Fed, Djok, Murray and Nadal. You'll find that the wOmens game would become much more interesting and lucrative than the Ace fest that so often befalls the men.

IMHO the women are as much part of the tournament as the men sondeeerve their equal share.

A top quality Brit increases domestic television viewing figures, even when they are not really British. What about the worldwide television viewing figures? Many more people will watch the Men's Wimbledon final than the Ladies Wimbledon final.

The women don't work as hard as the men players and not as many people watch them play on television. That is two reasons why they don't deserve to be paid the same as men.

..........all sports have now become more business orientated than in the past. As Sgtkate alluded to in post 5............if women put as many bums on seats as men,pay them the same!,the punters don't seem to mind 3 or 5 sets to get a seat.

..........all sports have now become more business orientated than in the past. As Sgtkate alluded to in post 5............if women put as many bums on seats as men,pay them the same!,the punters don't seem to mind 3 or 5 sets to get a seat.

England v Scotland women,must be about 3000 there.