The Cincinnati Open is underway and there is certain to be a debate over prize money as the women’s champion will be paid less than the men’s winner.
World No 1’s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have led the calls from all the top players in a demand for a bigger slice of the revenue generated at Grand Slam tournaments, amid some suggestions that they may be prepared to pull out of the biggest events in the sport if they don’t get their own way.
Yet the gender pay debate is not an issue in the four Slams, with the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open all paying male and female players the same prize money, even though women’s matches are played over best of three sets compared to the best-of-five set contests.
The argument for that discrepancy is fans and TV viewers are paying to watch both draws, as they are playing on the same courts in Grand Slams.
It is an argument that could also be made for the Cincinnati Open, with the ATP Tour and WTA Tour events being staged at the same venue.
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Yet the winners will not be given equal prize money, with the men’s winner taking home $1,151,380 and the women’s champion only collecting $1,085,220.
This difference is due, in part, to less lucrative broadcasting deals for the women’s matches compared to the men, but this may be the last year we see this pay gap, as the WTA Tour made a commitment to equal prize money at joint ATP and WTA Tour events by 2027.
This commitment was made back in 2023, so it remains to be seen whether that extra cash commitment can be made by the WTA Tour in a challenging financial market, but this was their statement on their future plans.
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“One of the main pillars of the strategy includes creating a pathway toward equal prize money, a goal envisioned 50 years ago when Billie Jean King founded the WTA,” read a statement on the WTA website three years ago
“This increase will happen over time, to ensure the changes are sustainable for players and tournaments in the long term, with WTA 1000 and 500 combined events attaining equal prize money by 2027 and single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events by 2033.”
The male players will also be playing three-set matches in Cincinnati, so there is no difference in the playing conditions and that makes the prize money gap all the more vivid.
