Nick Kyrgios makes strong statement on equal prize money and a possible ATP-WTA merger
Nick Kyrgios has expressed his opposition to equal prize money at tennis’ four Grand Slam events due to the fact the best-of-five set format makes men’s matches last longer.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up also objected to the idea of a merger between the ATP and WTA Tours and declared he would only be in favour if men’s and women’s draws were merged.
All four of the Grand Slam tournaments offer equal pay to men’s and women’s players, with Wimbledon becoming the last of the four Majors to do so in 2007 – following the French Open (2006) and the Australian Open (2001).
The US Open was the first Grand Slam to offer equal pay to men and women in 1973 – as a result of tennis icon Billie Jean King threatening to boycott the tournament.
Some argue against equal prize money at Grand Slams because – unlike the rest of events on both tours where only the best-of-three set format is used – men play best-of-five, while women play best-of-three.
On the topic of a merger, tennis legend Roger Federer is one of a number of figures within the sport who have urged the ATP and WTA Tours to combine in recent years.
“Just wondering, am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one? I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP,” the Swiss tweeted three years ago.
“I am not talking about merging competition on the court, but merging the two governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours.
“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body.”
Kyrgios, however, does not follow this line of thinking regarding a merger, while he also used an example to highlight disparity in time spent on court to argue against equal pay.
“If we’re merging, you merge the draws, you merge everything. 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,” the Australian told The Athletic.
“But why is tennis the only sport that deals with this stuff? If the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) said, ‘Let’s merge’, the NBA would ridicule them.”
The 28-year-old, who recently did some work as an analyst and commentator for Tennis Channel during the ATP Finals, also suggested many tennis pundits are out of touch with the modern game.
“Sometimes it’s hard to watch these old heads kind of break down the game all the time for new fans. It’s like some of the stuff they say doesn’t make sense,” Kyrgios said.
“Jim Courier is really good, the way he articulates things, but some of these other people, I’m just like, ‘What are you talking about?’. Like, ‘How do you know?’.”
