Do you agree or disagree with same earnings for male and female tennis players for the same events?

Question

Tennis is probably the only sport where the revenues of male and female athletes are around the same. This had led to new policies requiring that male and female tennis players get the same money for the same event. However the law has still not changed to require that female tennis players play 3 out of 5 sets as their male counterparts.

Answer 1

If female plays 3 out of 5 sets..

They'll be dying and too exhausted..

Answer 2

they should get same money... women can't help that their not always as strong as men. its just nature. It's not their fault.

Answer 3

Not all tennis events make men do 3 out of 5.  Many events changed their rule to 2 out of 3 sets, especially ones with women also participating.  They changed it after the complaints of women not getting enough money as men.  As you can see in the Indian Wells Masters, they used to play 3 out of 5 sets, but changed to 2 out 3 in 2007.   The Miami Masters event also changed this year as well.  Indian Wells and Miami are both just below Grandslams.

Grandslams are the most noticeable distinction of men playing 3 out of 5 sets and women playing 2 out of 3.  I am guessing that the Grandslams do not want to reduce the number sets to 2 ouf ot 3 for men because the Grandslams have been around for a long time and probably they don't want to mess with tradition.

Personally I think they should get the same ammount of earnings because they still had to compete.  They still had to work hard to win.  It's not like playing the match was a walk in the park.  I know the men have to play 5 sets, but what is the drawback?  Less recovery time, harder work?  At the end of the day, their is only one champion of a tournament, not five.

Didn't both the champions from the men and women side work hard to win?  You can't say that the men should get more money than the women because they worked harder.  They both defeated people and got to the top of their side.  I don't see an edge of women having 2 out of 3 than 3 out of 5.  Two people enter the court, one leaves a winner.

Answer 4

I agree that they should get the same money, even though playing fewer sets.   It's based on fan appeal and TV revenue, not just how long they play.   A lot of fans, including me, enjoy watching the women play.

Answer 5

Okay look, feminism has gone too far, women will never be as great of athletes as men, unless steroids come into play, note East Germany in the 1980s.

To give them the same amount of money for lower quality tennis along with playing only best of 3 set matches is simply ludicrous.

It isn't fair by any means and shouldn't be so.

In comparison to all the other sports, how much do WNBA players make? LPGA?

There's a reason why men don't play against women in any major sports competitions.

Because the quality isn't the same.

Therefore giving the same prize money is completely unjustified, it would be like paying $40 for a chicken breast with fries at Swiss Chalet. Don't make much sense does it??

Answer 6

I disagree. Female players should not earn the same amount as the guys until they play best of 5 :) !

Answer 7

I think it is unfair that women are getting paid the same amount as the men.  Yes, they work hard, but men work harder.  It's not racism, it's just a fact.  Women don't work out on oil drilling platforms - is that racist?  No - it's a man's job.  Women should get paid a lot of money, but men should get paid more because they play five sets, not two.  If I worked three days a week and a guy worked five days a week, who should get paid more?  The guy - he worked more!

Answer 8

This is an interesting question to debate and most people equate the earnings to performance. The issue is really a more a matter of marketing and less of performance. That is to say that traditionally, the men's side has been more popular than the women's side and generates more viewership, thus ad dollars.

Right or wrong, agree or disagree, it's the reality. I commend the tournaments for equalizing the pay and I have no problem with the women making the same amount as the men as long as the tournaments can afford to do so.

The women work very hard and while they don't play 3 our of 5 sets like the men, people forget that men and women are still different. Women are equal to men in all but one area; physically. That doesn't mean the the women players don't work as hard as the men do. They work every bit as hard. But to believe that a pro tennis woman has the same strength, stamina and speed on the court as a pro tennis man is naive.

So should they get equal pay? It depends on what you base it on. If it depends on the marketing, then no. At this time, the men's side is still the more popular event and as a result of the extra revenues generated by the extra viewership, the men should make more. If it's a matter of performance, then yes, they should. It's becoming more like that every year and that's the right direction in my opinion. Pay should always be tied to performance.

Answer 9

Yeah, why not?

Women work just as hard as men even if their matches are usually not as long so women deserve rewards too!

Answer 10

In the slams, the US and Aussie Opens pay the men and women equally. The French Open has just begun to pay the champions the same amount but for the rest of the field, the men still get more overall money. Wimbledon pays men more. This year Nadal got 1.170 million. Venus got 1.117 million.

The slams are the only events where men play the best of 5 sets, over the women's best of 3 sets. They use to play best of 5 in the men's Master Series finals until they couldn't get enough air time on ESPN. They have since switched to best of 3 sets for the final.

I think the women should get the same money in the slams.

The lesser tournaments are a different matter.

There is more interest and money going into men's tennis than there is for women's tennis. Just look at the sponsorship and advertising figures. Those individual tournaments pay only what they can afford to pay the winners. If that money isn't there, as in women's tennis, you can't pay them the same.

As far as interesting to watch, it's about equal for me.

Women's matches usually involve more rallying whereas in today's men's game it often comes down to power and quick points.