Coach Patrick Mouratoglou says he would like to see WTA players get paid the same as ATP players but also explained why this is still not happening in tennis. At the Grand Slams, WTA players are paid the same as their male counterparts.
But outside of those four Grand Slam events, how ATP and WTA players get paid is a whole different story. In April 2020, Roger Federer said “maybe now really is the time” to merge the ATP and WTA.
Now Mouratoglou says merging ATP and WTA could lead to equal pay in tennis.
Mouratoglou explains the Gender Pay Gap in Tennis
“I think we all want men and women to be paid equally.
People have to understand that you have two entities – you have the ATP and you have the WTA. ATP makes a certain amount in relation to the deal and WTA makes a certain amount. The amount the ATP earns is much much larger than the amount the WTA earns.
TV rights are sometimes ten times higher for men than women for the same event; ten times more. Even if WTA players wanted to pay the same amount as ATP would pay players, I don’t think they would be able to.
You can’t afford it. It makes sense to consider that women should receive the same percentage as men. And this would be an equal way to treat both. We can also say that it was in the plans to merge ATP and WTA.
It would become possible to pay men and women the same amount and I don’t think it will be possible until they are merged because only the WTA doesn’t have enough money to pay women as much as men.” Mouratoglou per Sportskeeda.
In a recent interview, WTA CEO Steve Simon confirmed that the WTA is working to close the gender pay gap.
But the problem is that the WTA still doesn’t get the same money opportunities as the ATP.
