When world number 1 Novak Djokovic clinched his 5th Indian Wells title by defeating Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0, little did he suspect getting caught in the eye of a controversy that managed to take on a titanic status in the days to follow; and which generously over-shadowed his second big win of the year.
The Serb cruised past his Canadian opponent as he broke Raonic 5 times, in total, through the course of the game. Raonic appeared out of form owing to a groin injury that he sustained in February, and failed to put on display the fiery skill that he demonstrated at the Australian Open in January (where he bowed out of the semi-finals losing to Andy Murray).
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The poor display of tennis by Raonic, which awarded Djokovic an easy victory, was sidelined by what happened during the post-match interview. What began as a regular question and answer session soon turned into a brouhaha with Djokovic deciding to put forth his “poignant” point of view on a controversial subject.
Djokovic remained his classic funny self during the post-match interview where he did his best to keep the mood light. That, however, seemed to backfire, when his funny side decided to delve into “female issues”, which made many a woman blush!
He tried to dodge the “equal pay debate” but decided to voice his “heartfelt” opinion on the "very delicate and sensitive subject".
"I understand how much power and energy WTA and all the advocates for equal prize money have invested in order to reach that," he said.
"I applaud them for that. I honestly do. They fought for what they deserve, and they got it.
"On the other hand, I think that our men's tennis world, ATP world, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators....
"We can't complain because we also have great prize money in men's tennis... [but] we should fight for what we think we deserve.”
He went on to comment on women’s bodies and ended up sounding extremely funny.
“Their bodies are much different than men's bodies, they have to go through a lot of different things that we don't have to go through. You know, the hormones and different stuff, we don't need to go into details. Ladies know what I'm talking about."
"The decisions that they make with their own bodies, you know, in order to play the tennis and to play the professional sport," before adding, "I'm surrounded by women. I'm very happy obviously to be married with one and to have a child. I'm completely for women power." concluded Djokovic.
Djokovic left no stone unturned to concur with what Raymond Moore had to say on the topic; which from a female tennis enthusiast’s point of view looked like an unabashed comment that came straight through his hat!
In the hours to follow, the internet unsparingly trolled Djokovic and heckled his speech. Some called it “sexist” and how he could have avoided indulging himself in making such incongruous comments; while others supported his honest opinion.
The unequal pay issue of tennis
As for the unequal pay debate, the money awarded should remain consistent with the efforts that the players put in. Djokovic obviously did not think it through when he said men deserve more money owing to pulling stronger crowds.
On a day when the 100th and 99th seeds were to play each other in the finals, the crowds would still turn out in big numbers; notwithstanding the absence of a Federer or a Nadal. People attend live matches to enjoy the game of tennis; and not because they wish to shower “men's tennis” with undue support.
In fact, the metric for equal pay should go beyond the male and female anatomy, and focus on what the players are put through when they are made to spend 3 to 5 hours on a daily basis for 2 weeks; before the decider coughs up the ultimate winner.
When Women’s champion Azarenka was questioned about women being noisier on the field as compared to men, she chose to answer it with a witty reply, "I think it's still a problem in the world. It's not just in sport - it's in business."
This just goes to prove how women do not wish to stick with “political correctness” when it comes to answering questions that don’t require any such approach.
If the same question, about equal pay, was to be thrown at her; or Williams for that matter, they would have voiced a much meaningful and honest opinion, as compared to making light of the issue by delving into the details of the female endocrine system.
Azarenka hit the nail on the head with her comment as the world continues to have a whale of a time pampering men in terms of pay and denies monetary justice to women and their contributions. They are still dubbed as the “weaker sex” despite having made tremendous progress in almost all fields of life (let alone sports) whilst leaving the men far behind.
In all fairness, the money awarded at tennis events is most definitely lopsided as the men get to walk away with the lion’s share. Djokovic had a very weak opponent in the match, as did he in the Australian Open final. The women players, on the other hand, fought tooth and nail to close out a stunning match that reeked with an equal share of competitive spirit.
Neither women (despite injuries et al) were willing to give up easily, which was not the case in the men’s final; where Raonic handed out an easy win to the Serb by putting out a dismal performance. And yet, Djokovic walked away with the bigger prize (and brownie points for being excessively servile) while the ladies had to settle for a lesser sum (and listen to Raymond’s atrocious remarks).
With the match-fixing and doping (Meldonium) incidents still fresh in the minds of tennis enthusiasts, Raymond Moore and Djokovic have managed to add another feather to the now infamous “tennis scandal” cap.
The spirit of friendship in the world of Tennis is definitely changing, albeit for the worse!
There is now news of Raymond Moore having resigned from his post after receiving flak for the atrocious remarks that he made about women players riding on the coat-tails of men’s games (quite frankly, though, nobody would have cared even if he stayed behind since he isn’t really prominent!).
But the same cannot be said about Djokovic, who tried to control some of the damage caused by his comments by putting up an apology (which many pro-Djokovic camps are dubbing as just a clarification of his previous stance) that looked nothing short of a well-orchestrated PR gimmick. His opinions obviously matter a lot more; to a lot of people, especially youngsters who look up to him as a role model.
And although there continues to be a divided opinion on whether or not what he said about men deserving “more” compensation than women is still largely being misconstrued, there is a clear consensus on the fact that the intent behind the comments cannot be overlooked, which reeked of a type of “ gender bias”. Even if Djokovic did mean to say that women too deserve “more” than what they already get, his choice of words put out a befuddling message that the masses did not know how to interpret.
In any case, just a resignation and a public apology will not suffice and a more radical pay oriented approach needs to be put in place, which will ensure that no player will feel like he or she is not earning enough through their contribution to the sport. The issue should now move past focusing on Djokovic’s comments and serious work must commence on reaching a united consensus on the equal pay debate- for the greater good of the, already controversy-flanked, tennis community!
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