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John Millman believes female tennis has some of the top athletes in the world who deserve equal pay but have the misfortune of being represented by an underperforming body, WTA.
Millman wrote in his column for news.com.au, explaining why he thinks WTA is to be blamed for female tennis stars not getting equal pay.
"The women have had equal pay in Grand Slam tennis for 25 years and it is time for them to receive equal pay right across the board. The WTA have had more than enough time to achieve that goal.
"Our female tennis players are some of the best athletes in the world and deserve to be paid equally, but unfortunately, they are represented by an underperforming body.
"Tennis can be the envy of all sports when it finally achieves true equality, but I feel for that to happen, it needs to be under one umbrella and based on the track record that is with the ATP. Until then, equal pay is a pipe dream and won’t happen.
"Tennis can be the envy of all sports when it finally achieves true equality, but I feel for that to happen it needs to be under one umbrella and based on track record that is with the ATP. Until then equal pay is a pipe dream and won’t happen," he wrote.
Even though female tennis players are among the best paid in the sports world, they are still paid less than their male counterparts. Strong advocacy by Billie Jean King led to the US Open being the first Grand Slam to offer equal pay in 1973. The other tournaments followed the US Open's example and have provided equal pay since 2007.
But apart from the Grand Slams, the difference in prize money at other combined ATP-WTA tournaments can be stark. Iga Swiatek earned almost as much as Carlos Alcaraz in 2022 ($9.9 million vs. $10.1 million).
But down the list, the difference is rather glaring. WTA No.10 Simona Halep pocketed $2.3 million against the $3.8 million earned by ATP No.10 Hubert Hurkacz in 2022.
WTA hobbled by a lack of a long-term strategy and stagnating revenue: John Millman
The revenue models and strategies employed by the WTA and ATP are independent of each other and follow varied paths.
The ATP’s revenue in 2021 was a staggering $176.8 million, while the WTA’s revenue for the same year was $87.8 million. This was mainly due to sponsorships, licensing, and their flagship World Tour Finals, while the WTA has blundered with its own goals, John Millman feels.
He further adds that while the ATP holds their flagship season-ending World Tour Finals in tennis-loving cities and in front of packed crowds, the WTA’s choice of venues is lackluster, and the matches are usually played in front of empty seats.
In the same opinion piece, John Millman talks about the WTA’s lack of a long-term strategy and stagnating revenue.
"With the lack of a long-term strategy and revenue stagnating, the WTA went looking for a quick fix by selling nearly a quarter of their tour’s schedule to China.
"Even in the best of times, it is difficult to get people through the gates in China, and it is a bad look playing to empty stadiums, but it was when Covid hit and the country closed its borders that we saw the consequences of being over-leveraged in one place on a 'global tour'," he added.
