The disparity between men and women not having the same pay and rights in sports has been a discussion for ever so long. And it has taken years of hard work, and fight for women to get the same pay after winning tournaments as men. It all started with a remarkable match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

However, on one hand, when King was fighting to get equally paid in the Battle of the Sexes, Riggs was making harsh, sexist comments that only turned out in vain as King emerged victorious in the match.

Bobby Riggs made an offensive comment during the iconic match against Billie Jean King

At the Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs played a match that is marked in words of gold in history. This was the first match where a woman (Billie Jean King) in this case won $25,000 after defeating Riggs, the same amount that a man would have won. It was after this match that tournaments stepped up and started paying the same amount to both men and women in all tournaments, starting with the US Open.

However, not everyone was happy with this change and demand from King, especially Riggs. In fact, he even made a comment that would fuel any person in favor of equal pay. He said, “She’s a women’s libber, and I’m playing to prove the man is king. … These women say they want to earn the same as us, and that’s ridiculous.”

He even mentioned how he loved women to stay in bedrooms or kitchens. And that the best way to handle a woman would be to keep her barefoot and pregnant. But his defeat made it better as King was able to prove how the winning amount should not be based on gender.

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But he is not the only ‘male player’ to have made such a comment about equal pay. Nick Kyrgios, who is famous for his controversial statements, also caught up to this issue just recently.

Nick Kyrgios messes up once again as he engages in a conversation about equal pay

A Twitter user posted about how at the ATP500 event in Washington DC, Coco Gauff received less money than Dan Evans even though they played the same all week. To which Nick replied that this was not wrong. His side of the argument was that Marketa Vondrousova won more than Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon.

But what he missed was that Marketa had won Wimbledon 2023 and Novak had not. He lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the finals. So, making this comparison did not make sense as, obviously, the winner will bank more. When male players try to argue about the fact that women asking to be paid equal is something to be defensive about, it truly shows how the ‘sportsmanship’ within them needs more work.

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