Former world no 1. Martina Navratilova has offered her thoughts on the prize money debate, stating that she is disappointed by remarks made by Novak Djokovic in relation to his assertion that men should be paid more than women based on popularity claims.
Navratilova “”Novak Djokovic, as much as I love him, clearly doesn’t understand why, when women and men play in combined tournaments, they must be paid equally, I thought we settled that issue years ago.”
Navratilova has been a supporter of equality within tennis for years, and suggested that the Indian Wells tournament could be boycotted by many female players in the aftermath of remarks made by Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore that women’s tennis “rides of the coat-tails of the men“. Navratilova condemned Moore’s remarks as “very old-fashioned“, and added “We have made it this far on our own, without help from male players, and will continue to do so in the future“.
The Indian Wells tournament is not stranger to boycotts, as it endured the absence of both Williams sisters between 2002-2015 following an incident in the 2001 event when the sisters father asserted that he had heard racist remarks made. Serena returned to the event in 2015, and Venus in 2016.
Other boycotts in tennis include when Andy Roddick boycotted the 2008 Dubai Open, where he was defending champion, following the tournament’s failure to allow Israeli female player Shahar Peer to take part despite her possessing the relevant ranking. Many players including Stan Smith boycotted Wimbledon in 1973 in support of Nikola Pilic, who withdrew from a Davis Cup tie.
