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| Martina Navratilova |
Hyderabad: In tennis, it still pays more to be a man and Martina Navratilova wants to break the glass ceiling.
The 48-year-old grand lady of the game, here for the Hyderabad Open, on Sunday called for equal prize money for men and women at all tournaments. ?It is unfortunate that there is discrepancy in prize money between men and women players,? she said. ?One should recognise that like men, women players have also all other needs to stay fighting fit. I have to pay my coach, hotel and travel on my own.?
This is not the first time Martina has raised the subject. But her demand that women should be ?equally rewarded for their performance? came at a place where she is likely to connect. Hyderabad is the home of Sania Mirza, the 18-year-old who reached where no Indian woman had been able to ? the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
The teenager lost to Serena Williams at last month?s Australian Open after a spirited fight but returned as the country?s newest brand girl.
Of the four Grand Slams, only two ? the Australian Open and the US Open ? offer pay parity. The others, Wimbledon and the French Open, still pay the men?s champion more.
The other side of the argument is that the men have to slug it out for five sets while the women can decide the issue at only three. But Martina says women?s tennis is getting ?more popular? every year and also ?getting better audience? all over the world. ?Hence the players also should get a better treatment on a par with men, if not more.?
Martina, who along with Anna-Lena Groenfeld of Germany takes on Japanese duo Remi Tezuka and Shiho Hisamatsu in the tournament?s opening match on Monday, described the Hyderabad Open as a ?young tournament?. Getting top players, she added, was the key to building a successful tournament.
Dressed in blood-red cotton trousers and a white pullover with red stripes, Martina entered the media room ringed by security personnel. Asked what she felt surrounded by five commandos, she said: ?In some countries, there is no freedom of press. In some countries, there is no freedom from press.?
