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 Serena Williams of the US speaks to the media  US tennis player Serena Williams (L) standing with Raymond Moore, Indian Wells CEO and defuse the war of words over women's pay in tennis on the day that embattled Indian Wells tournament director Raymond Moore quit his post. Williams and Murray spoke as they prepared for this week's start of the Miami Masters. The Scot who crashed out early in California said that he was surprised by controversial remarks made last weekend by Moore. Murray said Moore, who resigned his post as tournament director at Indian Wells, put his foot in it when he said that women players rode "on the coat-tails of the men" and were "very, very lucky" to have equal prize money thanks to the massive popularity of men's stars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Moore also said Sunday that if he were a woman 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." Tournament owner Larry Ellison accepted the resignation of the South African on Tuesday. Murray, coached by Amelie Mauresmo after first being brought to the game by his mother, is understandably a firm supporter of women in the sport. "Women should have equal pay, 100 per cent," the world number two said. "The timing of this incident is so stranger - right before a great women's final. "The whole thing is pretty disappointing." Murray also addressed subsequent comments from Djokovic, who said that the marketplace should determine earnings - and that men generally bring in more spectators than do women. "Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and he did say that if women are selling more tickets they should earn more," Murray said of Djokovic's remarks. "But if Serena Williams [is] playing on centre court and the men's match is someone like [world number 105 Sergiy] Stakhovsky, then people are coming to watch Williams play." Men's tennis has been lucky over the past nine or 10 years with the rivalries that have developed, he said, "but it's the whole world of tennis that should capitalise on [the popularity of the sport]." Williams said that if she had one child of each gender, with both playing tennis, "I would never say my son deserves more money. That would be a shocking thing to say. "I'd never put one sex against the other. There have been so many great women's champions who have brought so much vision to the sport. "Tennis is the biggest sport for women. It's not the biggest sport for men, but it's still huge." The high-profile Williams also referred to the morning's Brussels airport terror bombing which killed 34. "It's a really dangerous time in the world right now, it's really scary," she said. "You never know what can happen. You can only pray for the families and the people involved and hope that they can get through this awful tough moment. "I don't put [the threat] out of mind, we have to always be on alert. It doesn't matter where you are, anything can happen anywhere. "No one is safe; no city is safe at this point." | |||||
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Murray, Williams tone down rhetoric women's prize money furore
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