Venus Williams has called for Wimbledon officials to continue their approach to equality with the scheduling of matches following a historic day for the WTA Tour.
On Wednesday at The All England Club there were more women’s matches on the six premier courts than men’s matches. A scheduling milestone that hasn’t occurred for 25 years at the tournament. On both Centre Court and Court 1, four out of the six matches involved women.
37-year-old Williams kick-started proceedings on court 1 with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, win over Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru. Securing a place in the third round of Wimbledon for the 18th time in her career. Shortly after her win, the American praised the grand slam for how they are promoting women’s tennis.
“I was really overjoyed when I saw the schedule for today.” Said Williams. “We have a lot of equal play on the main courts in the other three Grand Slams. It was just fantastic to see Wimbledon also follow suit. It’s wonderful to hopefully have that continue, to have equal for the men and the women.”
Karolina Pliskova dismissed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets on Centre Court. Speaking about the order of play, the Czech also praised the move. Going on to say that women’s tennis is more interesting because there are ‘more ups and downs.’ Five top-10 seeds have already crashed out of the tournament within the first three days.
“I think it’s good because women’s tennis, for me, it’s more attractive because there is more up and downs than in the men’s.” She said. “I like to watch (the women’s tour). Maybe the people also. So I don’t know
“There is Serena. This match I think was worth to put on Centre Court, me with Azarenka. Then there is Serena. Obviously Federer, he has to be on Centre Court.”
Roger Federer was another player questioned about the schedule. The Swiss top seed breezed past Lukas Lacko in his second round match. He didn’t give a direct answer about the topic, but did question why there were only three matches scheduled to play on the two main courts. Both of which have retractable roofs.
“You would think maybe there is room for more tennis on the court. But no, they know what they’re doing, so it’s all good.” Federer said.
On the tour, Equal prize money has been awarded at every grand slam since the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
