Shapovalov demands equal pay for men and women
On International Women's Day, Denis Shapovalov urged for equal pay for men and women in professional tennis. And the Canadian explains how his girlfriend's fate opened his eyes.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Mar 08, 2023, 09:45 pm
Denis Shapovalov has already earned more than ten million dollars in prize money in his career. Money worries should therefore be alien to him. In terms of sport, experts have already expected one or the other big title from him. But even without these big titles, the 23-year-old is doing well as a tennis pro.
Shapovalov only really understood that not all players are so lucky in his relationship with professional colleague Mirjam Björklund, currently number 145 in the world. "She opened my eyes," writes Shapovalov in a text for the online magazine The Players Tribune on International Women's Day.
The Canadian is mainly concerned with smaller tournaments, not the Grand Slam tournaments, where men and women collect the same prize money. In the post, he recalls the tournament in Washington 2022, where his girlfriend received $1,000 for her loss in the first round. And not $7000 like men who got eliminated in the first there. Even though the men's event was a 500 event and the women's event was a 250 event, he still finds the difference far too big.
Shapovalov comes to the conclusion: "As a female tennis professional, the chances of being able to live from your sport are much lower - because you're a woman. I may be cynical, but I think some people see gender equality as just political correctness. Deep down they feel that women don't deserve better. And that's terrible.” In the end, the Canadian calls for “complete gender equality in tennis”. His argument for this is: “If players aren't treated fairly, some of them at the lower levels can no longer afford to continue. Potential stars will just give up.”