What is your stand on prize money being equal for both ATP & WTA?

[p4p1]

Do you agree with how it is now or do you think it's unfair to the guys? Asking this in light of Tipsarevic making enemies today on twitter.

Some of his interesting tweets:
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@TipsarevicJanko

I really wouldn’t care at all if girls earn the same as guys if the same amount of effort is applied.#bestoffivesets

Or do we have idiots here that don’t think so…?Please stand up and say your name loud and clear…

Ok,so how many idiot do we have here thinking that,Wiliams,Stosur,Kirilenko,Li,Sharapova..ets(wh o are fitter then most of us guys) are physically unable to play #bestoffivesets ?…Please stand up and say your name LOUD and clear…

Love you all!!!!!Please unfollow me if you think I’m a dick
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On that subject, what do you think of Janko's comments? Brave and correct? Idiotic and incorrect? Needless?

[Zombie Birdhouse]

For GS events, the prize money should be standardized in all events -- singles, doubles -- though I want the additional seeds ditched and the bulk of the draw slotted due to the player's ranking.

[Third Mall]

I would've unfollowed Janko, even though I agree with his overall point [that men deserve higher pay].

The reason I would unfollow is that I don't really think the pay issue revolves around the effort, or the amount of sets played (for 8 weeks of the year! Whopp-dee-doo!). That's almost inconsequential as far as I'm concerned (it may be just another point you can add on, but nothing major). People aren't paid for the amount of work or effort they put into their job. If they were ALOT of jobs in the world would be ALOT more rewarding, right?

What does matter is what Simon correctly pointed out: more people pay to watch the men, therefore the men deserve more money. What should be equal is the percentages, based on revenue they create etc. Unfortunately, at slams, there is no real way to measure that.

I made this point a while back and haven't changed my mind. Here's a more detailed version of my argument: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...924AAwAt6Z


EDIT: Another reason I would've unfollowed Janko is that I don't think he has any right calling anyone an "idiot" when he clearly doesn't understand what he's arguing for. He's actually misrepresenting people like me who have a valid argument for why men should be paid more.

[Canada Matt]

Idiotic and incorrect is my choice. One is paid by their performance think of it as them being on commission, they are not paid for how long they spend on the court they are paid to win. Are marathoners paid 420 times more than those in the 100m? No because winning is more important to pay than the duration of time is.

[big willie style]

I think these pleayers make way too much money for anyone to be complaining about their payday. If he feels that way formally ask the ATP/WTA to reexamine this policy and if they disagree then he should accept it or quit playing.
OK, seriously tough I can see why some of the guys might feels that way. But I don't think a woman's body can handle that type of constant pounding for 5 sets. But some of the women are the main attraction for these events such as Sharapova or Serena. So whatever they decide I think it could be viewed as fair.
I don't think he's a jerk for saying it. I don't know that I agree but then again I'm not the one asked to play 2 extra sets. I don't know if I were Serena or Maria I'd like the idea of having my paycheck cut either if I know way more people come to see me than Janko any day of the week.
So it is many ways to look it at. I think that he should be focused on being a better tennis player and not whining that the world isn't perfect because it never will be.
But the problem with Simone's argument is if they cave to this idea now what happens next year of someone like Federer, Nadal or Djokovic say they have more people coming to see them than someone like Tipsarevic adn thus they should get paid more for reaching the same rounds since they are responsible for the higher Ticket sales??

[729]

Janko has always been a dick. He's the most sexist, homophobic and fascist player on tour. He shouldn't need to question whether or not people think it; it is already clear.

And his argument is complete bull bull. Women are physically limited in comparison to men, but they still perform to the best of their ability -- it is their equivalent, therefore an equal effort.

If he was coming at it from Third Mall's angle then I'd agree. Though I still think women should get an equal amount, simply because of equality and all, even if men do bring more money into the sport.

I really don't know why the likes of himself and Simon complain about the issue either. What WTA players earn shouldn't concern them. It doesn't effect their bank balance. Seriously, I don't see the point. They are complaining about women getting the same... so they want female prize money to be lowered? Well, then the guys would still receive what they do today. It's redundant. Maybe they all just have superiority complexes? I don't know.

[Chuck]

While men and women get equal prize money in the Grand Slams, most of the other ATP and WTA events are independent of one another, even if they're held at the same place.

It's about entertainment and who brings in the most TV/internet revenue, and also who sells the most tickets. If the women pro's drew higher Nielsen TV-ratings, then they ought to get *more* prize money than the men. So far, this hasn't happened.

It makes no sense to force the women to play best-of-five-sets, because they are already getting injured too frequently. Best-of-five set matches would just make things worse.

[lvlys3lf]

Doctors are paid because they cure people. Architects are paid because they design houses for people. Cooks are paid because they make food for people.
What do tennis players do for us?! They entertain us. We pay and watch them play and that's where the money comes from. They're not paid because they play for a long time and put so much effort or they are talented. If the money were to be divided among them directly, we had to go check the TV ratings and ticket sellings. And I'm not aware of if they are equal or not.

Seriously, I don't get it why some would make such comments. It's not like they're playing a lot of best of 5 matches every year! And they think it's not "fair". If they think their money is not enough, they simply can ask to raise the prize money. Why ask for the others to be less? Can't they live with other people as rich as them?

And it's very idiotic and disrespectful of Tipsarevic to say it this way. He's calling people "idiots" because they have different ideas, even mentioning names! It just shows a horrible personality. Someone who can't accept opposing ideas and disrespects others. Shameful.
He could just say how he thinks. What's the point of being rude? Maybe he just wanted to grab some attention.
And it really made me laugh how he was saying women should play as many sets as men in tennis, because they do so in other sports! Even hot dog eating! Lol! It's like saying futsal should be 90 minutes because football is.
I never followed him, so I didn't have to unfollow.


I lost respect for him, but I'm not saying he's wrong.

[Michael H]

I Can't agree with Janko, but I'm not idiotic as to say that Williams, etc are fit and able to play 5 setters, NO!

Yes, I believe that men put in more efforts than women, by far. But in terms of prize money, we can't really purely only consider the efforts, we also have to regard the profit in which the matches made... the more crowd, the more prize money, and I believe talking about crowds and fans, most WTA players have more fans than some ATP players...

[Mrs. Djokovic]

I think that ATP players have secret reason for bringing out this fight.
They know girls would never agree to get paid less and that they would fight back. As well as that girls don't want to play best of five sets for sure. Also few of top players, like Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Serena and Sharapova would get way more money than most of the others players if they were giving money based on how many fans they bring to matches. internet and other things. Other players would keep telling that isn't fair and fight would be continued.
So only way out is to let guys play best of three and give more money to both men and women, which is what they all want.
Plus they get so much media attention (I bet they paid them for few interviews).
So I think that they're greedy, but also smart for making well plan.
Tipsa is trading Twitter fans for possible money. Well done Janko. I like him better from now on.