"No one wants to take men's money away from them. We don't want to sit with what we have because it's not enough" - Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina recently said comparing men's and women's sports "made no sense," but insisted that female players should be paid more than they currently are.

While men and women receive equal prize money in Grand Slams and Masters 1000/WTA 1000 events, the same cannot be said for other tournaments — something which the Russian highlighted.

Kasatkina said female players are 'fighting' for more pay and that they apparently know the WTA has the capacity to pay them more than they currently are. She said on the Russian podcast "What's on the Tour?", as translated by Telegra.ph:

"Comparing men's and women's sports makes no sense at all. I don't understand why we're doing it, we're not competing with each other. I think the topic of equal prize money was not invented by tennis players. We realise that this is impossible nowadays. We want our prize money to increase.

"And it's absolutely normal when you work and you want the best, you want to be paid more. Especially when you know that the capacity to pay is there. We know a little bit more than others, so we're not satisfied. That's what we're fighting for."

The 26-year-old added that the intention was not to take the men's prize money away from them but for women's tennis players to earn more than their current pay. She said the money on offer right now isn't enough to 'live on' for most of them after 'all the taxes and expenses'.

Commenting on the prize money at the WTA 250 and WTA 125 events, Kasatkina added:

"No one wants to take men's money away from them. We don't want to sit with what we have because it's not enough. The top-50 WTA are doing well, the rest are just surviving. ATP has a better situation with that. Even if we look at the prize money at WTA 250 or WTA 125, it's absurd. After all the taxes and expenses, there's nothing to live on."

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Daria Kasatkina won 39 out of 64 matches in 2023

Daria Kasatkina in action at the WTA Elite Trophy

Daria Kasatkina had a decent season in 2023; she won 39 out of 64 matches.

The Russian didn't win a single tournament and her best performance was reaching two WTA 500 finals - at the Adelaide International 2 and the Rothesay Classic in Eastbourne. She lost to Belinda Bencic in the former and was beaten by Madison Keys in the latter.

Daria Kasatkina's best performance at Grand Slams in 2023 was reaching the fourth round at the French Open and the US Open, losing to Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open.

The Russian started the year as the World No. 8 but fell out of the top 10 as the season progressed, finishing as the World No. 18.