Present on RMC this Sunday during the Grandes Gueules du Sport, Marion Bartoli reacted to the comments of former world number three Nikolay Davydenko, who questioned the gender equality applied to the prize money of Grand Slam tournaments.
Marion Bartoli obviously does not agree with Nikolay Davydenko. The former world number 3 recently denounced the equality between male and female players in the prize money of Grand Slam tournaments, judging that the “players work three times as much as the female players” due to the format of the matches.
In the Grandes Gueules du Sport on RMC this Sunday, Marion Bartoli defended the current situation in the Majors. “Fortunately, we are here in 2024,” said the woman who won Wimbledon in 2013. “Davydenko is completely wrong, from the beginning to the end of his sentence. The examples cited are ridiculous.”
“There have also been extremely short matches in men’s Tennis”
Nikolay Davydenko took the example of Serena Williams, 39 times Grand Slam winner including 23 times in singles, to justify his remarks: “She won Grand Slams while losing only ten games in the tournament. She won with 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 without even breaking a sweat or feeling stressed.”
Marion Bartoli wanted to take another example to respond to Davydenko. “When Roger Federer won Wimbledon in 2017 without losing a set, the hourly rate on court must have been roughly equal to that of Serena Williams during her Grand Slam victories,” noted the consultant. “There have been girls’ matches that have lasted more than four hours. There have been extremely short matches in men’s tennis too.”
If the gaps between players are still high in most tournaments, those of the Grand Slam therefore ensure fair winnings. The US Open was the first tournament to implement this practice in 1973, under the influence of Billie Jean King. In 2024, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik SInner, for example, each received 3.2 million euros thanks to their final victory.
France
Tennis
