World No.7 Ons Jabeur says women should not be made to wait to receive the same amount of prize money as their male peers at the Italian Open.
Last month the chief of the Italian Tennis Federation, Angelo Binaghi, outlined plans for equal money to be implemented at the tournament by 2025. At present the total ‘financial commitment’ in the tournament for men is almost three times higher than for women at $9.5M compared to $3.5M. This year’s men’s runner-up will earn €580,000 which is more than what the women’s champion will be rewarded (€521,754). Both tournaments have the same draw size but are operated by separate governing bodies.
Speaking to the New York Times, Jabeur has called for the Italian Open to bring forward their equal prize money pledge. Other mixed tournaments yet to implement equal prize money include the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the National Bank Open in Canada.
“I don’t see why we have to wait,” Jabeur told the New York Times. “It’s really frustrating. It’s time for change. It’s time for the tournament to do better.”
Tennis is regarded as one of the best-paying sports for women athletes. In Forbes’s list of highest-paid female athletes of 2022, tennis players occupied seven out of the top 10 players. Furthermore, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams were the only women to be featured in the overall list of the top 50 highest-paid athletes.
Equal prize money has been implemented at all Grand Slam events since Wimbledon 2007. This is also the case at tournaments held in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.
“I don’t know why it’s not equal right now,” Spain’s Paula Badosa commented on Rome’s prize money disparity. “They don’t inform us. They say this is what you get.”
WTA CEO Steve Simon told the Times that the prize money differences are due to a ‘market that values men’s sports more highly than women’s.’ Although they received a boost earlier this year when CVC Capital Partners purchased a 20% stake in the WTA for $150M. The investment is set to be used for sales and marketing which should then create a rise in prize money pools.
Both Jabeur and Badosa are members of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) which was co-founded by Novak Djokovic. The organization aims to act as a union for players and campaigns for greater involvement in the decision-making process of the sport. Although it has been accused by some of trying to divide the sport which it denies.
This year’s Italian Open is taking place over two weeks for the first time in its history. Iga Swiatek and Djokovic are the defending champions.
