
via Imago
Credits: Imago

via Imago
Credits: Imago
While tennis may be falling behind other sports like basketball and track and field, it surely has one of the biggest plus points. For years, big tournaments in tennis have adopted equal pay for both men and women. Decades ago, Billie Jean King voiced her opinion for this and players like Serena and Venus Williams carried the flag forward. What ensued was that men and women received equal prize money at the tournaments, something not commonly seen in other sports. Recently, American tennis sensation Coco Gauff highlighted this issue while feeling great about tennis for adopting this.
Ahead of her opening round match at Wimbledon later today, Gauff was involved in an interview with USA Today Sports. During that conversation, she opened up about women’s sports and how they were progressing while talking about the gender-based pay gap. Gauff revealed, “I love just being inspired by women and having my media and what I consume be it women um and I think it’s great that finally I feel like the other 50% maybe of the world are recognizing the worth in women’s sports and I think it is so inspiring, definitely.”
Further, she went on to add, “I get inspired by it and playing in tennis being so lucky to have things like equal prize money in our biggest events, um, you know, means a lot so I would love to see that attention go onto other sports and um cuz those women definitely deserve it.”
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via Imago
Image Credits: Coco Gauff/Instagram
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Unlike tennis, basketball doesn’t follow the equal-pay rule for the NBA and the WNBA. As a result, players like Caitlin Clark are paid far less than their male counterparts. Even Clark’s agent, Erin Kane, who represents her under Excel Sports Management, raised this issue of the gender-based pay gap. He even went on to state that the WNBA cannot pay Clark a sum that matches her true value.
Kane said, “I don’t think that’s possible. She is part of a larger player body that needs to be paid more by the WNBA. She should be recognized for what she has done and what she’s brought to the league from an economic standpoint. It’s as simple as that.”
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On the other hand, Gauff topped the Forbes list as the highest-paid sportswoman. At just 21, it is some milestone to achieve for Gauff. As she earned a hefty paycheck after winning the WTA Finals last year, Gauff revealed what she’ll do with that massive sum.
Coco Gauff makes an honest financial admission
While the American sensation has pocketed millions of dollars owing to her success on the court, she doesn’t like spending too much money. As a result, when she earned $4.8 million on account of winning the WTA Finals, she was left clueless about how she would spend it.
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What’s your perspective on:
Is tennis setting the gold standard for equal pay in sports, or is there more to do?
Have an interesting take?
Gauff went on to say, “I knew it was some money, but I didn’t know that much. Oh, it means a lot to me… I have bought a house… I’m going to a music festival next week. So, I don’t know; I’m not someone who likes to spend a lot of money, to be honest. I don’t know what I’ll do with it. That’s a lot of money… Oh gosh, I hope I’m like one of the highest-paid female tennis players this year or athletes so that’ll be exciting. Honestly, I wanted to win this for myself. I didn’t know that it was the biggest prize check on this tour; I didn’t know anything about that. I knew there was money, but I try to never play for this, but that’s cool.”
Nonetheless, this isn’t it for Gauff. With the American sensation in the form of her life, she is sure to pocket millions of dollars more. Surely, Gauff has to find a way to decide what she’ll do with her winnings sooner rather than later!
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"Is tennis setting the gold standard for equal pay in sports, or is there more to do?"