It is hard to argue with the fact that the world of sports is predominantly a male-dominated one. From greater viewership and prime-time television slots to a much higher pay scale and bigger brand endorsement deals, male sports stars have always grabbed the lion’s share of the attention. Tennis, however, with the lowest gender pay gap in sports, stands somewhat as an exception to this. As we head towards Wimbledon, a former referee of the coveted tournament Andrew Jarrett has reignited tennis’ long-standing gender discrepancy debate with a rather unique proposal in his mind.

Let’s find out what he had to say.

Former Wimbledon official’s strange proposal to end gender discrepancy

Tennis is no stranger to debates and discussions regarding gender disparities in various aspects of the sport. Be it the pay gap or the unequal number of sets played, opinions have been varied and countless. Andrew Jarrett, who worked as a high-ranking official of Wimbledon in the period between 2006 and 2019, has joined the bandwagon.

In the book ‘Championship Points’ authored by him, Jarrett has shared his perspective on this issue, reports the Daily Mail. He has theorized one possible and workable solution that could bridge the gap between the ATP and WTA players as far as the grand slams are concerned. Quotes: “Equality in general is something being imposed, and I think it is an area in which tennis can hold its head reasonably high.. You have equal pay but the men are playing more. For it to be carried further you could play best-of-three sets for everyone in singles up until the fourth round, then have everyone playing best-of-five-set matches from the quarter-finals onwards,”?he wrote in his book.

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He opined that since there is equal prize money for men and women in the grand slams, the match duration and workload should also be the same for them.

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While many tournaments on the tour still have a massive pay disparity, all 4 grand slams have equal prize money for the men’s and women’s categories.

Pay parity in all majors was finally achieved in 2007

The call for equal pay in tennis for men and women dates back a long way. After much struggle and demands, the US Open announced pay parity in a historic decision in 1973. That year also saw the legendary Billie Jean King defeat Bobby Riggs in the iconic ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match.

However, the other grand slams took many more years to implement equal pay for the genders – Australian Open did it in 2001, the French Open in 2006, and finally Wimbledon followed suit in 2007. A huge disparity in the amount of prize money allotted for men and women in other prominent tournaments on the tour still persists to this day, nonetheless.

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