Women and men equality?

[Marc]

Do you think women and men are treated fairly in tennis? Here's an interesting story (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/sports/25TENN.html):
Wimbledon Alters Seedings and Raises Pay for Women

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WIMBLEDON, England, April 24 — Wimbledon is doing away with its seeding committee for the men and increasing prize money for the women, but that is not enough to satisfy the players.

In a move to avert a boycott by the world's leading clay-court men the All England Club announced today that it was dropping its seeding panel because its decisions were subjective and open to misinterpretations.

The club's chairman, Tim Phillips, said he would continue to work with the ATP, which runs the men's Tour, to devise an "objective and transparent" seeding system for this summer's championships, which start June 25.

Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, the world's top clay-courter, and several Spanish players have raised the possibility of boycotting the tournament if the club continues with a policy favoring grass-court specialists. They want Wimbledon to stick with the official ATP entry list.

"It's certainly a movement in the right direction," an ATP spokesman, David Law, said. "It's not the end of the matter. The main thing is that everybody — the players, ATP and Wimbledon — are looking together to find a solution that will satisfy everybody."

Meanwhile, Wimbledon announced a 5.5 percent increase in prize money to $12.15 million, but stuck to its policy of paying more to the men than the women.

The men's champion will receive $715,000 and the women's winner will get $661,375.

Total prize money for the men will be $6 million, while the women's total will be $5.1 million.

Phillips noted that the overall women's increase was 6.5 percent, as against a 4.7 percent increase for the men. He said the top women players tend to win more money than the men because they also compete in doubles.

The increased women's prize money is aimed at the players who reach the quarterfinals and beyond. The winners and runners- up in the women's singles and doubles will receive 92.5 percent of the men's total.

Among the four Grand Slam events, the United States Open and Australian Open offer equal prize money, while Wimbledon and the French Open still give more to the men.

The WTA Tour said it was "encouraging" that women were getting a higher percentage increase than the men but reaffirmed its call for equal pay.

"We continue to be concerned about the slow pace of progress toward equal prize money," the WTA Tour's chief executive, Bart McGuire, said in a statement.

[lmanchur.]

ummmmmm.... the question in the poll really has nothing to do with the actual news story you quoted, Marc.... or is it just me?

[Marc]

Originally posted by SC-Lee
ummmmmm.... the question in the poll really has nothing to do with the actual news story you quoted, Marc.... or is it just me?
It is vaguely related to the womens vs. mens topic... just thought I'd ask it, relax! :p

[Brandon]

Personally, I think the women's tennis is more exciting, although I can't stand the William's sisters. For some reason men's tennis just doesn't do it for me.

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by SC Brandon
Personally, I think the women's tennis is more exciting...Either that or the people on the court are more appealing to look at than in men's tennis! ;)

[iFroggy]

:D

[FutureAggie04]

I think that women and men should be paid equal amounts...even though men play best 3 out of 5 sets and women best 2 out of 3...women's tennis has a larger TV audience. So since women's tennis brings more money to the game, shouldn't they be paid equally?

[tennis4you]

I am up in the air about that. Women want to be equal in all stats, so make them play the same amount. But of coarse you could argue that in some situations the women hit as amny strokes in a best of 3 set as the men do in best of 5.

Either way I woudl like to see the women play best of 5 at least in the finals of the Slams, and maybe other major tournaments like the men do.

[FutureAggie04]

Maybe it would be a good idea for women to play best 3 out of 5 sets in grand slam finals. But if this idea ever came up to the executives table, a whirlwind of controversy would come up. At Wimbledon, its hard enough to change traditions and i think that Wimbledon would be the last Grand Slam to change its ways. If i'm not mistaken, the US Open and possibly the Australian Open have equal prize amounts for males and females. But anyway, if women were to play best 3 out of 5 sets they would probably be more fatigued then the men...not just because of body type but also because they hit many more shots in one set than men do, simply because of the fact that the women's game is slower. So after all this I still stand behind the fact that women and men should be paid equally. :)

[Marc]

From ESPN.com (http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2001/0627/1219405.html):
Wimbledon still pulling its purse strings

When the Wimbledon women's singles champion is crowned next week, she will receive the same royal treatment from Queen Elizabeth II that the men's champion will enjoy. About the only difference in the ceremony will be the size of the winners' purses.

The women's singles champion will earn 92.5 percent of the purse for the men's tournament.

While the men's and women's champions of the U.S. Open and, for the first time, Australian Open will receive equal pay for their Grand Slam achievements, the French Open and Wimbledon continue to cut the purses for their women's champions.

At Wimbledon, this year's female lawn champ will receive approximately $54,000 less than her male counterpart. To boot, "there are no plans" to equalize men's and women's pay, a spokesperson for the All England Lawn Tennis Club said.
Apparently, nothing has changed.

[lmanchur.]

I think women's tennis is more popular than men's.

Small Example: On one of my sports stations 24/7 sports ticker, since there was about NOTHING going on in sports this week besides the MLB All-Star Festivities, they displayed the league leaders from every league... for tennis, they ONLY displayed the WOMEN'S money leaders.... no men's. I wonder... this was probably just a slight overlook on their part... either that, or I just didn't see it but................... I'm SURE there were no men's on there.

...the top money leaders for the women only had just over $1 million.... I'd imagine the top men would have.... maybe..... $4 million or something.... not sure...

....the question is, does the fact that the women play less in a match justify them getting considerably less money?

I don't think so.... not "considerably" less, at least.

[Clay]

Lee--

Actually the top woman (Capriati) has $1.68 million and the top male (Agassi) has $1.63 million, but if you go further down the list, the men do earn a bit more than the women. Not at all considerably, though.

It is true that the women earn less, but it's not a fault of tennis as a whole. It's the fault of the WTA Circuit for not marketing itself better. The men's and women's tours are seperate entities and men and women only play at the same tournaments a few times a year. The men earn more money because their tour has arranged it for them. I'm not sure if that's based on sponsorship, attendance or what.

I'm also not convinced that women's tennis is more popular, though I can't prove it is not true. I have a feeling the men's tournaments are more highly profiled and more popular attendance wise.

I say if we want equality in pay, the WTA is going to have to market itself.

[Kamikaze Kiel]

give the ladies more....many reasons....the main one brings more people to watch....i think we know why too;) :D

[Clay]

give the ladies more....many reasons....the main one brings more people to watch....i think we know why too

Some people actually like to watch the sport and not just the players (contrary to what you might think). Watching women's tennis for me is a lot like watching the WNBA. It's an ok subsitute, but it doesn't come close to the quality of what the men can do.

[Marc]

Originally posted by Clay


Some people actually like to watch the sport and not just the players (contrary to what you might think). Watching women's tennis for me is a lot like watching the WNBA. It's an ok subsitute, but it doesn't come close to the quality of what the men can do.
I agree. I personally enjoy women's tennis more because it is more competitive at the top. Hingis, Capriati, Davenport, the Williams sisters, etc.

[Clay]

I agree. I personally enjoy women's tennis more because it is more competitive at the top. Hingis, Capriati, Davenport, the Williams sisters, etc.

Actually, I was saying that I like men's tennis much more, but I'll watch women's as a subsitute if men's isn't on. But, you did help me with my point that people actually watch women playing tennis, not just watch girls in their skirts.

For me, women's tennis can be exciting at the top, but otherwise it's either a pathetic blow out a very rare upset in the case that the top player is playing terribly. Even with top women like the Williams sisters, errors ruke the match.

In men's, you more often get quality tennis in which an upset can occur because the lower ranked player out plays another player, not because the better player plays poorly. The quality, power and accuracy is much better with the men.

[SpiderMBA]

Feminists, always whining.
Say anything in opposition to them, and they instantly brand you a "misogynist".

Quick, what is the female counterpart to "misogynist"? You don't know such a word, do you, such has been the brainwashing by feminists and liberals.

WHEN:
A. Women can play 5 set matches, AND
B. Play on a par with the men,

THEN AND ONLY THEN should they be paid as much as the men. The differences between the sexes are both quantitative and qualitative, with men doing more work, and better work, and feminists demanding equal pay for less quantity and quality.

So what's new?