"Zero days without un-feminist nonsense from women's players lately" - Fans incensed by Garbine Muguruza's 'woman power' remark

Tennis fans have reacted sharply to a remark recently made by former World No. 1 Garbine Muguruza.

The Spanish-Venezuelan, who won the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, announced her retirement from tennis on April 20 after an extended hiatus from the sport. Muguruza's last outing came at the 2023 Lyon Open, where she suffered a first-round exit.

Following her retirement announcement, the 30-year-old spoke to The Telegraph about the difficulty that women athletes face when it comes to admitting they want to have a family and settle down.

"I do feel that woman power is great, but I feel bad to say sometimes that I want to be home and maybe have a family, take care of my kids. It’s like bad nowadays to say something like that. It feels like always I have to say I want to be a businesswoman, I’m going to be a role model," Muguruza told The Telegraph.

However, Muguruza's statement did not go down well with several tennis fans, who expressed their displeasure on social media. One set of fans was of the opinion that empowering women has nothing to do with women having families and children.

"We've had zero days without un-feminist nonsense from the women player's lately," wrote one fan.

"When did we start equating women empowerment to not having a family/children," commented another fan.

"Damn maybe the Barbie movie wasn’t dumbed down *enough*," another fan chimed in.

Another set of fans hinted at Muguruza being influenced heavily by patriarchal concepts.

"Look at my tennis players bruv we is NOT making out the patriarchy," one fan wrote.

"Something to do with the culture she grew up in. Patriarchal society," another fan commented.

Yet another set of fans likened Garbine Muguruza's statement to similar sentiments echoed by other women's tennis players in the past.

"Ons (Jabeur) said something after losing wimby23. Reality for women players," wrote one fan.

"There used to be a time when being asuccessful female player was incompatible with being a mom. Li Na said being a good mom and wife was her dream and she really enjoyed that after retirement. Unfortunately these are the challenges women face," another fan chimed in.

"I'm looking forward to being with my loved ones" - Garbine Muguruza

Garbine Muguruza at a press conference ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid 2024

Muguruza also told The Telegraph that she decided to cut her illustrious tennis career short because of her desire to spend more time with her loved ones.

"People expect a great answer from me, I’m leaving tennis because I’m going to do this or that, I’m going to go into business, I’m going to develop a cookie – whatever it is. No. I’m leaving tennis because I’m looking forward to being with my loved ones, making a trip without my tennis racquets, probably building a family, getting a dog. I just want to do nothing," Muguruza said.

Apart from her two Grand Slam titles, Garbine Muguruza also won the 2021 WTA Finals and seven other titles on the WTA Tour.