"So a female player should be penalized for excellence?" - Fans irked by criticism for Iga Swiatek & Carlos Alcaraz's equal prize money at French Open

Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek received equal prize money for winning the 2024 French Open despite the Spaniard spending more than double the time the Pole spent on the court. It has sparked a debate among fans as Alcaraz spent 20 hours and 42 minutes, while Swiatek spent nine hours and 58 minutes.

Also, the men's final lasted for four hours and 19 minutes, whereas the women's final lasted for an hour and eight minutes.

An account on X posted the aforementioned data and questioned whether it was fair that Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz received the same prize money despite spending significantly different amounts of time on the court.

Fans were irked with the question and one asked if Iga Swiatek should be punished for being better than her peers.

"So a female player should be penalized for her efficiency and excellence?" the fan wrote.

Another fan said tennis was not a minimum-wage job and the players weren't paid by the hour. They also mentioned women shouldn't be penalized for the position they were put in by men.

"Because this is not a minimum wage job & they don't get paid by the hour. Because their few hours on court have a lifetime of hard work & dedication behind it, for all great athletes. Because women should not be punished for who they are, how they're made or for decisions made by men a long time ago," another fan wrote.

Here are other reactions from fans criticizing the question:

"AKA Iga was not marginally better than her opponents like Alcaraz. Shall we reward the less efficient and dominant player of the two? " asked a fan.

"When Felix got to Madrix final with 3 walkovers and Sabalenka playe exclusively three-setters including an epic final, did you compare the pay back then? Outside slams women play the same number of sets but usually get paid less and you never posts about equality in such cases." a fan questioned.

"Hours on court means nothing. The more you lose, the more money you should make?? Maybe pay Iga more for her efficiency and dominance." a fan opined.

Some fans, however, did disagree and felt that men and women should not be paid equal prize money.

"It is not equitable and it is not deserved. The men bring in on average more revenue and work longer hours. Aryna Sabalenka played 8 hours and Jannik Sinner played 18 hours at the Australian Open." a fan said.

"it’s unfair because it’s a best of 3 for the same prize pool." a fan mentioned.

"This!! I don’t everrrrr want to hear about men and women getting equal pay in tennis !!! EVER!!! a fan agreed.

Nick Kyrgios, a critic of equal pay in tennis, mocked Iga Swiatek's 6-0, 6-0 win against Anastasia Potapova at the French Open

Iga Swiatek

En route to her fourth Roland Garros title, Iga Swiatek decimated Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0 in just 40 minutes in the fourth round. An account posted this on X under which Nick Kyrgios left a laughing emoji to seemingly mock the match.

Late last year, Kyrgios, a huge critic of equal pay in tennis, told The Athletic how Elina Svitolina played for just 40 minutes, while he played for four hours at the 2022 Australian Open but both received the same pay.

"I played for four hours at the A.O. (Australian Open), then (Elina) Svitolina played for like 40 minutes and we both got paid the same," Nick Kyrgios told The Athletic.

However, this was far from the truth as Svitolina played for around four hours and 46 minutes and reached the third round, whereas, Kyrgios played under just five hours before facing defeat in the second round.