Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. HOME News Royal Showbiz & TV Sport Comment Finance Travel Entertainment Life & Style Football Tennis Transfer news F1 Boxing UFC Cricket Rugby Other Golf NFL Racing NBA Karolina Muchova has weighed in on tennis’ gender pay gap after finishing runner-up to Coco Gauff at the Cincinnati Open. Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing on his journey to ATP TourA row over the disparity in prize money for men and women in tennis continues to rumble on ahead of the US Open next week. The final Grand Slam of the year can absolve itself of any criticism over the subject as it has offered out equal prize money for the past 50 years.
But that is not the norm in elite tennis, as was perfectly demonstrated at the Cincinnati Open last weekend. Novak Djokovic walked away with a cheque for £796,800 after he came from behind to beat World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 in a thrilling men’s final.
American Coco Gauff delighted the home crowd by winning the women’s singles final with 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova, but the 19-year-old’s winning prize pot of around £355,000 was less than half of that enjoyed by Djokovic.
The gender pay gap in prize money sparked contrasting views on social media, with some slamming the disparity while others defended the figures by arguing that more people watch the men’s game and bring more revenue into the sport.
Now Gauff’s defeated opponent Muchova, who collected £210,500 as runner-up – less than half of what Alcaraz received for the same achievement in the men’s singles – has had her say on the matter.
Karolina Muchova speaks after losing to Coco Gauff in the Cincinnati Open final. (Image: Getty)
Speaking to Vogue, she said: “It is something that I cannot influence from my position. I understand that the organizers have signed contracts and new television rights.
“For a long time, men’s tennis was considered more attractive, but lately, it seems to me that women’s tennis has become more fun, more unpredictable. The stadiums are starting to fill up, we could see it in the Roland Garros final, that was an incredible experience.”
Djokovic has earned just shy of £6m in prize money during the 2023 season, while women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek has banked around £4m in on-court earnings since the start of the year.
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Novak Djokovic was triumphant in Cincinnati and received double the prize fund of Coco Gauff. (Image: Getty)
Earlier this month, Australian star Nick Kyrgios was criticised on social media for wading into the long-running debate.
When tennis podcaster Myles David pointed out that Dan Evans (£276,500) would receive significantly more than Gauff (£94,000) despite both players winning their respective tournaments in Washington, Kyrgios hit back by arguing that Marketa Vondrousova earned more than Djokovic at Wimbledon this year.
He wrote: “What about slams? Do we do this breakdown then? Vondrousova made more than Novak that week.”
But the often outspoken former Wimbledon finalist was shot down by other Twitter users who pointed out that Vondrousova had won the women’s singles final while Djokovic had finished runner-up in the men’s final.
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