Double Fault

The scene of the tennis crime is once again at Indian Wells. This site, host of the BNP Paribas Open, is most famous for the fans’ racist reactions to Serena and Venus Williams in 2001 and the sisters’ subsequent boycotting of it until last year. It is the center yet again of deserved controversy after Raymond Moore, its CEO, made sexist comments about the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and female tennis players before the men and women’s finals on Sunday. Asked to speak about the WTA, Moore said, “In my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA, because they ride on the coattails of the men.” He went on, “If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.” A strange statement for this particular event CEO to make given that just last year, the headlines around Indian Wells looked a lot like this one from Forbes: “BNP Paribas Open Tickets Continue To Rise With Serena Williams In Field.”

After Moore acknowledged that he considers Serena and Maria Sharapova to be superstars in the game, a reporter asked: “What does it say that there isn’t enough competition for them?” This gave Moore space to speculate about the future of the women’s game. “I think the WTA have a handful – not just one or two – but they have a handful of very attractive prospects that can assume the mantle,” Moore said. “You know, Muguruza, Genie Bouchard. They have a lot of very attractive players. And the standard in ladies tennis has improved unbelievably.” When asked to clarify if “very attractive” referred to their looks or the way they play the game, Moore said, “I mean both. They are physically attractive and competitively attractive. They can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop.”

If you can hear it, that sound is the collective of women screaming into their pillows.

Tennis has a sexism problem and Moore is not the first person to shine a glaring spotlight on it. In 2014, the Atlantic ran a piece titled, “A Brief (and Recent) History of Sexism in Tennis” after a Russian tennis official made sexist and transphobic comments about the Williams’ sisters. Sexism in the sport is even internalized by the female players themselves. Last year, before Wimbledon, the New York Times’ Ben Rothenberg reported that female players fear building too much muscle and work hard at staying slim. Famously, he quoted Maria Sharapova saying, “I can’t handle lifting more than five pounds. It’s just annoying, and it’s just too much hard work. And for my sport, I just feel like it’s unnecessary.” Sexism is such a problem within the game and the media that covers it that Lindsay Gibbs, who has written extensively on tennis in her career, created a guide to help everyone with “How to Talk About Women’s Tennis.” It remains invaluable.

There is something particularly jarring about this kind of blatant sexism in regards to women’s tennis. It’s no secret that women’s sports are often compared to the men’s equivalent and found lacking. Female athletes are constantly fighting for more support, more resources, and paychecks big enough that allow them to focus only on their sport. They are met with hostility, and claims that they are too boring to watch and that they simply not good enough to care about.

Tennis, though, is different. Unlike most sporting events, when you turn on coverage for or attend a grand slam tennis event (or, say Indian Wells), you will see both men and women play. You are as likely to see and hear female commentators and analysts as you are male. There are times when the first half hour of ESPN’s primetime coverage of a tennis grand slam feature three women at the desk talking about the sport, analyzing both the men’s and women’s games; a rare site in sports media. Thanks to the efforts of Venus Williams primarily, at the biggest events in the game, you know that the champions on the men’s and women’s side will walk away with the same purse.

And yet, when Novak Djokovic, the #1 ranked male tennis player and the winner of BNP Paribas this year, was asked about Moore’s comments, not only did he make weird comments about the things women “have to go through with their bodies” because of “hormones,” but he cried about how unfair it is that women in tennis sometimes get the same paycheck as men. “They [female players] 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 on the men’s tennis matches. I think that’s one of the, you know, reasons why maybe we should get awarded more.” According to Forbes, Djokovic made $48 million last year, $17.2 million in prize money and another $31 million endorsements. Serena? $24.6 million, with $11.6 million in prize money and $13 million in endorsements. Sharapova, the female tennis player who makes the most money, made $29.5 million, most of it from endorsements ($23 million). As the BBC’s Tom Fordyce argues, “equal pay [in tennis] is as much a myth as it is a minefield.” That Djokovic feels slighted at all because sometimes at some tournaments, the female champion gets the same paycheck as the male, is all you really need to know about how deep sexism runs in tennis.

After her loss at Indian Wells on Sunday, Serena was asked about Moore’s comments. She first responded in the way all women do who are constantly asked to speak about men’s sexism: “I don’t understand why I always have to answer questions about controversy like this.” She went on, though, to give a breakdown of why Moore is wrong and, though she spoke before him, Djokovic. “Last year the women’s final at the US Open sold out well before the men. I’m sorry, did Roger play in that final or Rafa or any man play in that final that was sold out before the men’s final? I think not.” Serena called Moore’s comments, “a disservice to her and every female, not only a female athlete but every woman on this planet, that has ever tried to stand up for what they believed in and being proud to be a woman.” And she was clear that Moore’s comments about a woman getting on knees for a man is “offensive.”

Moore has apologized, but there are calls for him to step down. Billie Jean King and the CEO of the WTA condemned his comments. Yet, even if Moore goes away, the sexism that drove him to feel like he could publicly utter those thoughts will remain. It’s hard to imagine that Serena and other female players will not have to comment again on this issue sometime soon, or that male players will not offer up new troubling, but predictable sexist statements.

Serena’s clear on where she stands with all of this: “We, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.” So many people are grateful for the women in the sport. Serena noted that “if I could tell you every day how many people say they don’t watch tennis unless they’re watching myself or my sister, I couldn’t even bring up that number.” If anything, the sport of tennis should be on its knees, thanking Serena, Venus, Sharapova, and others for playing despite the sexism they constantly face.