Some Tennis Players are More Equal than Others

I know this is a few days late but I want to talk about Wimbledon. Congratulations to Amelie Mauresmo who was awarded £625,000 for winning the women's singles, and to Roger Federer who won £655,000 for his fourth consecutive victory in the men's event. But the disparity between the levels of prize money is rather curious. It may seem quite small but, in many ways, that makes it even more difficult to explain. It is as though the All England Club is trying to make a point, to administer a slap in the face to women's tennis. I therefore find myself in support of Tony Blair's recent statement, calling for equality.

One of the arguments used to justify the difference is the supposed commercial superiority of men's tennis - that it is easier to sell. This is misleading because it is events in which both men and women take part that sell best of all. Indeed, the ATP, which runs men's tennis, is trying to introduce more events involving women for precisely this reason. In any case, the argument is ultimately a morally abhorrent one. For a shopkeeper in a racist neighbourhood, it may indeed be more commercially sound not to employ any black or Asian staff, but no-one would consider this to be acceptable behaviour.

The second reason given is something of an old chestnut, the fact that women play three set matches at Wimbledon, compared to five sets for the men. This is true but somewhat bogus. For one thing, many of the top female players, such as Venus Williams, have said that they are prepared to play five set matches if asked to do so. In addition, the fact that they play shorter matches does not mean that women have to spend less time training so, overall, they put in just as many hours as the men. Also, to qualify for Wimbledon, players have to acquire ranking points by competing in many less well-known tournaments, in which both men and women play over three sets.

For the clinching argument, however, I want to draw an analogy with disability rights. Just as employers and service providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, the All England Club should be willing to make adjustments for female players, to allow for physical difference between the sexes. I hope that, one day, this principle will become 'obvious' and it will become second-nature for people to think in this way and Wimbledon can, and should, do a lot to make a contribution towards this cultural shift.

Historically, the tournament has forever been associated with strawberries-and-cream-eating toffs and so is continually looking for ways to present a more modern image. A roof will be installed on Centre Court over the next few years and, this year, the outfits worn by umpires and ball boys and girls were redesigned by Ralph Lauren, to much publicity. Unfortunately, however, on the equal pay issue, Wimbledon remains firmly rooted in the nineteenth century.