Stop Pushing Women's Tennis: The Truth About Equal Pay and Attention

Tennis prides itself on being one of the most progressive sports when it comes to gender equality, but is that equality based on merit or simply forced fairness? This has been an experiment of pushing women's tennis for 50 plus years. It has not gotten any more popular. Let’s take a deep dive into the uncomfortable truth about women’s pay and attention in professional tennis.

Here is Google defaulting to Women's Singles. I have never watched a Women's Match in my life but yet this is always the search result.

1. Equal Pay Without Equal Revenue

In many major tournaments, including the Grand Slams, men and women receive the same prize money. This might sound fair on the surface, but there’s a glaring issue: men’s tennis generates significantly more revenue.

• TV ratings: Men’s matches generally attract more viewers. The 2023 US Open men’s final had higher ratings than the women’s final.

• Ticket sales: The average resale price for a men’s final ticket is consistently higher than for the women’s final. I have personally seen the cheapest men's tickets at $250 compared to $100 for the women's final.

• Sponsorships and endorsements: Male players tend to command bigger deals because their matches generate more interest.

If revenue isn’t equal, why is the pay equal? In any other business, pay scales are based on performance and demand, but in tennis, that logic is thrown out the window.

2. The Skill Gap: How Good Are Women Compared to Men?

Tennis fans have debated for years how top female players would fare against male players. The answer? Not great.

• In 1998, Serena and Venus Williams played an exhibition match against Karsten Braasch, a male player ranked 203rd in the world. He beat Serena 6-1 and Venus 6-2 while smoking cigarettes between games.

• No top-20 female player would stand a chance against a top-200 male player in a real match. The speed, power, and endurance differences are simply too great.

If you can’t compete at the same level, should you really expect the same pay?

3. Less Work for the Same Pay?

Another major argument against equal pay is match length. In Grand Slams like the US Open:

• Men play best-of-five sets.

• Women play best-of-three sets.

The average men’s match lasts 3.5 to 4 hours, while women’s matches are often wrapped up in 1.5 to 2 hours. Should players putting in half the work receive the same paycheck?

4. Women’s Tennis is Pushed—But Do People Want It?

Women’s tennis is heavily promoted, sometimes at the expense of what fans actually want to watch.

• Empty stadiums: It’s common to see empty seats during women’s matches, while men’s matches on outer courts are packed.

• App and website bias: Ever noticed that when you check scores on Google or the US Open app, it defaults to women’s tennis? AI and algorithms are supposed to cater to user preferences, yet they force women’s matches to the front.

If demand dictated coverage, men’s tennis would be front and center. Instead, we get a forced narrative.

5. Lastly, they are throwing away money

   The US Open in a financial powerhouse. $500 Million in Revenue with about $250 Million in costs. That unearned prize money is money coming out of USTA operation for its other events and growing tennis.

The Bottom Line

Equality should be about fair opportunity, not forced outcomes. Women’s tennis should stand on its own merit, not be subsidized by men’s tennis. If the market dictates that men’s matches generate more revenue, draw bigger crowds, and last longer, then the pay structure should reflect that.

Tennis fans aren’t against women’s tennis—they’re against being told what they should watch and who deserves what paycheck. The real question isn’t whether women deserve equal pay—it’s whether they’ve truly earned it.