Murray: "Some men would rather earn less so that they are not on par with women"
Andy Murray is positive about the topic "joint ladies and gentlemen tour" - but also knows of other views among men.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 05, 2020, 10:56 am
When it comes to equality on the tour, Andy Murray is the man to listen to. In conversation with CNN, the Scotsman now gave his insight into the topic of a possible unification of the men's and women's tour.
"We have a unique sport in which men and women play together in the largest tournaments in the world. There is no other global sport. I see that very positively. We also have the same prize money at these events, which is fantastic - that's also interesting for sponsors and for the audience. "
Actually, you should celebrate it - but sometimes that's not the case, there is too much fighting among each other, Murray said. And he also gave an example. He had had many conversations in the past after there had been an increase in prize money. For example, if the money for men's first-round losers rose from $ 8,000 to $ 10,000 and that of women from $ 6,000 to $ 10,000. Some gentlemen were not thrilled that equality now prevailed. He asked if they would have preferred it if there had been no increase. And the answer was: yes, actually.
Murray: "Huge potential as a sport"
But the good thing, says Murray, that a few of the men started to discuss all of this. A problem could, of course, be that most tennis decision-makers are also men. It is important not to look at everything through the male eyes and to bring more women into the appropriate positions so that all voices are heard. But if everything comes out as desired? "Then we have huge potential as a sport."
The discussion about a joint tour had arisen two weeks ago when Roger Federer shared a corresponding train of thought on Twitter. However, conversations seem to have been going on behind the scenes for a few weeks now.
"This is the time right now, there are no tournaments," says Billie Jean King, who was one of the decisive people in 1970 for founding the WTA tour and has been fighting for equality since then - and for a joint tour. Murray also points to this. "She had the vision."