Women Tennis Players!

Am I the only one who actually does not think women should be paid the same as men for tennis? Now before I get kicked in the testicles let me explain. Women play less sets, this means less time on court so as a result less work. If I work less hours than someone else I do not expect to be paid the same as someone who works more.

I know that this is counterblanced by a million other sports (Women's football being a prime example) but two wrongs don't make a right and all that.

I dont think famous sports stars are normally paid by the hour etc..

this is prize money not wages..!

helencbradshaw wrote:

I dont think famous sports stars are normally paid by the hour etc..

this is prize money not wages..!

Exactly though, the harder you work for the prize the greater the reward should be.

Work? Do women train less than men then in their preparation to win the prize?

I think Navratilova offered to pay five sets years ago for equal prize money. It used to be that the women's prize money was a mere 37% of the men's so this isn't about labour....or it should never have been less than 60% if we follow the "hours worked" principle...applied by those who dont think it is fair.

Men of course, get the same prize money whether they win in straight sets or it goes to five....there is NO link between sets played and Prize Money

The other Tennis Opens were equal for years. At the end of the day what difference does it make..? Ticket prices are the same aren't they? (They would have to be, there is no guarantee what match is played on what day because of weather)

helencbradshaw wrote:

Work? Do women train less than men then in their preparation to win the prize?

I think Navratilova offered to pay five sets years ago for equal prize money. It used to be that the women's prize money was a mere 37% of the men's so this isn't about labour....or it should never have been less than 60% if we follow the "hours worked" principle...applied by those who dont think it is fair.

Men of course, get the same prize money whether they win in straight sets or it goes to five....there is NO link between sets played and Prize Money

The other Tennis Opens were equal for years. At the end of the day what difference does it make..? Ticket prices are the same aren't they? (They would have to be, there is no guarantee what match is played on what day because of weather)

Makes no difference but it still makes no sense to me. I fail to understand why there are no five set womens matches, women want it (so say the Williams sisters etc) so why not? I agree it should never have been less than 60% and I agree there is no less preparation but then there should be the same opportunity for play. Either that or reduce the mens games, bloody dull anyway!

To be honest Dave most people agree with you that its absurd to pay equal prize money. If the womens tour stood alone it would make hardly any money and certainly couldnt afford to pay mens wages. The womens final lasted an hour and the mens four,yet equal money. Ridiculous!!! If the women golfers played in a seperate tournament alongside the men in the Open would they now get the same money? If Charlton Ladies played the womens cup final on the same day of the mens Cup Final...would they get the same money?

If it was seperate women and men dasy at Wimbledon then I know which day would sell better and last longer. Play five sets girls or you get 60% of what them men get.

The thing is you pay the same to watch a womens game at Wimbledon as you do a mens game, you buy your ticket for center or number one and most of the time you do not know who you will actually get to see unless you have a ticket for finals day and then you only know the gender.

If it was a true market then I would expect they would be able to charge more for mens games at the tournament especially where in the early rounds as a lot of the womens games are very one sided. This would then suggest that the prize money should reflect the income that the players generate and the prize money would not be equal.

As it currently stands both earn a pretty goo level of income even if knocked out in the first round and it is not as if the men have seen a reduction rather the womens income has been raised, the main ones to benefit though have been those who loose in the early rounds as the gap between mens and womens champion was not that great in % terms before the change.

Most peope want to watch mens tennis which suggest the womens tour would fall on its ass.

Womens tennis if better to watch though (because i find it's not won by the serves but has more rallies of course). And although i would used to have agreed, the person who pointed out they all train the same amount no doubt is right.

They should get the same amount (well, they do now). Am i the only one though who thinks that instead of increasing it all to the mens money, decrease it to the women's original level. Sports stars are over-paid.

Ziggy! wrote:

If it was seperate women and men dasy at Wimbledon then I know which day would sell better and last longer. Play five sets girls or you get 60% of what them men get.

I didnt see the mens match (too boring..) but if it lasted four hours then it must be the longest match in history by a long way.

I think the "girls" would play five sets. Women have been saying it for years. Perhaps it is the archaic and patronising "boy" fuddy duddies attitudes that made the rules up.



(I do wonder if it is the same kind of archaic thinking like this that perhaps explains why the councils of this country have had to give six years of back pay to females...but then that's a different story.)

Jesus...so women get the same prize money...finally a sport that does recognise the skills and importance of women players in the game AS WELL as men. And that can only be a good thing.

Why dont women play 5 sets if it is what they want ?

butters wrote:

They should get the same amount (well, they do now). Am i the only one though who thinks that instead of increasing it all to the mens money, decrease it to the women's original level. Sports stars are over-paid.

Now that WOULD have caused an outcry...! Drop it back to the 37.5 % that the first women winners got paid...

Funny how last year the women's prize was 4.5% less than the mens. It's NEVER been related to the no of sets, that was just cover up for a discrepancy that has gone back years.

WormThatTurned wrote:

Why dont women play 5 sets if it is what they want ?

Because it's not in the rules Wormy!!! What do they do - just play on!!!!

I know its not the rules but if the women want a rule change why hasnt it been implemented ?

WormThatTurned wrote:

I know its not the rules but if the women want a rule change why hasnt it been implemented ?

We are waiting on the men.

Before this year I suspect they divvied up the money half each in the mixed doubles. The Italian Open pay the women half the money the guys get as they get half the crowds.

butters wrote:

Womens tennis if better to watch though (because i find it's not won by the serves but has more rallies of course).

That argument only applies to grass and even tat has seen a lot more rallies this year as the corst have been made slower and changes to the balls have resulted in more baseline rallies hence the reason a clay specialist like Nadal (although an immensely talented one) has been able to reach the last two mens finals.

Womens tennis is not better to watch, it is uncompetitive in the early rounds and tends to only get competitive at the quarter final stage.

Here here. If they play in bikinis I will watch.

I am utterly disappointed by the dinosaur thinking of the boys on this site.

Women probably don't play 5 sets because the tournament organisers won't let them have the time on court - just like most women's sports team that shares facilities with men's teams always gets the crappy slots that the boys don't want.

Being best in the tournament is what the money is for - it doesn't matter how long the game is. I'm quite expecting the 'warehousemen should be paid more than secretaries because they lift heavier things' argument.

Get a life boys, women are out of the box and we're not getting back in just to keep you happy.

If women wanna play five sets then they should be able to - result? - end of pay argument !!

koshkha wrote:

I am utterly disappointed by the dinosaur thinking of the boys on this site.

.

I am totally staggered too. But then we didnt get equal rights until 1970 or so, and there are still huge imbalances in the workplace so what chance have women got of competing for a lil prize.

helencbradshaw wrote:

koshkha wrote:

I am utterly disappointed by the dinosaur thinking of the boys on this site.

.

I am totally staggered too. But then we didnt get equal rights until 1970 or so, and there are still huge imbalances in the workplace so what chance have women got of competing for a lil prize.

Now now calm down dearies you are both getting all emotional and will just get yourselves in a tizzy wizzy. Have a nice cup of tea.

Personally it does not make a jot of difference to me over the prize money and the difference was negligable anyway at only a few % points. I just know that if I was paying to watch tennis I would not rate the womens game as being worth as much then again ten years ago when the mens gamne was so serve dominated I preferred to watch the womens game because of the longer rallies, now that the mens game has slowed down it is far more competitive.

I do realise that was probably supposed to be a jokingly ironic example of extreme patronising behaviour but quite honestly you should get that cup of tea over your head.

And as for the women's game being boring, quite honestly, I think the entire sport is boring and pointless and the big boys hitting lots of aces like robots does nothing for me.

Most of the keen tennis fans I know are lesbians and they certainly don't want to spend their hard earned dosh watching the men.

I'm so glad that we women are better than men at almost everything else except sport - I guess we just have to indulge the male inadequacies and go and put the kettle on.

If someone wrote on this board that Chinese people aren't very good at football or blacks can't swim or kalahari bushmen are too short to do very well at basketball, there might well be an outcry. So why's it OK to belittle women and demean their achievements?

Well the argument is then that if women can get on the same gig as men in any sport they should get the same money...That works in rock concerts as the women have talent and play the same time on stage. If I offered anyone two free tickets to a Wimbledon final, mens or womens, most would pick men. The male fans want to see the guys and the women do. Womens tennis is grunt feast of tedium and fashion.

koshkha wrote:

I am utterly disappointed by the dinosaur thinking of the boys on this site.

Women probably don't play 5 sets because the tournament organisers won't let them have the time on court - just like most women's sports team that shares facilities with men's teams always gets the crappy slots that the boys don't want.

Being best in the tournament is what the money is for - it doesn't matter how long the game is. I'm quite expecting the 'warehousemen should be paid more than secretaries because they lift heavier things' argument.

Get a life boys, women are out of the box and we're not getting back in just to keep you happy.

Its nowt to do with boxes, its just common sense. I am all for equalling things out either by extending sets or reducing for the men. And I do think the womens game is far more entertaining. The simple fact is though, as with most things in the world, the system makes no sense. Just because in this one instance it favourss women slightly for a change does not make it correct.

I will go back to the my anology of same pay for same job. This is what equal opportunities is about and fundamentally the women are playing less hours tennis. I know sport has no comparison to the real world but I would still like to see say Women footballers receiving similar pay structures to men as they play the same number of games etc.

I aint that bothered either way TBH but being accused of being a dinosaur because I want equality is laughable really.