Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has branded the significant difference in pay between men and women at the Dubai Tennis Championships as a step backwards.
This year’s men’s champion will earn five times more than that of their female counterparts, despite only one week between the two events. Last week Jelena Ostapenko took home $104,180 for winning the trophy. This is dramatically less than what the ATP tournament winner will get which is $523,740. Another comparison between the two genders is related to first round payments with men earning more than three-times more at $21,800 compared to $6,200 for the women.
The ATP and WTA are two separate governing bodies and therefore Dubai is under no obligation to pay the same. The men’s Event is categorized as an ATP 500 event and the women’s is a WTA 1000. Although on the men’s Tour the category number dictates how many points the winner will get which is not the same as the women.
Speaking about the gap, Murray said it isn’t ‘great’ for the sport. Tennis has a strong reputation of being one of the most equal sports in the world when it comes to equal prize money and has done so at every Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon 2007.
“Obviously, that’s a big step backwards, so it’s not great,” Murray said following his exit from Dubai on Wednesday.
“Obviously, if they’re the same size events one week apart, that’s quite a big discrepancy.”
In 2021 eight players earned more than $3M in prize money but only two of those were women – Ash Barty and Barbora Krejcikova who both won Grand Slam titles during that year. However, Forbes magazine has pointed out that the majority of the highest paid female athletes in the world are from tennis but their figures also include endorsements. In their list of the highest-paid female athletes, tennis players occupy five out of the top 10 spots.
“There has been tournaments on the tour, like the Washington event, for example, with the different size events, the prize monies are different,” Murray added.
“I’ve also played the tournament in Brisbane for the men, which is a smaller event compared to women, and the prize money is flipped the other way.”
Next month equal prize money will be offered at their combined events in Indian Wells and Miami.
Differences in prize money at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships
| ROUND | MEN | WOMEN | DIFFERENCE |
| R1 | $21,800 | $6,200 | ($15,600) |
| R2 | $40,875 | $9,000 | ($31,875) |
| QF | $76,570 | $17,500 | ($59,070) |
| SF | $149,870 | $37,500 | ($112,370) |
| RU | $282,300 | $64,800 | ($217,500) |
| CHAMPION | $523,740 | $104,180 | ($419,560) |
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