Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa give their verdict on whether men and women should receive equal prize money in tennis

Follow us on Google Discover

Aryna Sabalenka is gearing up to play her first tournament since losing in the Australian Open final.

Sabalenka was beaten by Madison Keys in her last match, as she saw her 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open come to an end.

In the immediate aftermath of the Australian Open final, Sabalenka smashed her racket in frustration and received some criticism.

However, Sabalenka reflected more positively on her Australian Open after having some time to reflect.

One of the players that the world number one beat en route to her third consecutive Australian Open final was Paula Badosa.

Sabalenka and Badosa are good friends, and appear to have gotten over their semi-final match as they spoke about the topic of equal prize money.

Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa give their verdict on equal prize money

Equal prize money is often a contentious topic of conversation amongst many sports, with tennis often referred to as the most equal between men and women.

All four Grand Slams have offered equal prize money for men and women since 2007, but there are still some inequalities between the ATP and WTA Tours.

In a joint interview with Russian outlet Vsemtennis, Badosa and Sabalenka voiced their opinions on whether they believe in equal prize money.

While Badosa understood the origins behind the gender pay gap, the Spaniard suggested that women’s tennis is currently more entertaining.

“My opinion is we always have to accept that sport was made a long time ago for males,” said Badosa. “A long time ago, hundreds of years ago, but I think we are in another century right now and sport and life has evolved so much.

“For me a sacrifice that a women makes, it’s unbelievable. Also I want to talk about tennis right now, it is so entertaining. You can see the person by my side [Sabalenka], serving 200kph, hitting faster than men.

“And it’s so much entertainment now on the women’s tour that I think it’s pretty equal now. For me the question is when you watch a movie do you want to know the end, how it is going to finish or not? Of course you don’t want to know it.

“In women’s tennis you never know. In men’s tennis you always know okay Rafa [Nadal], [Novak] Djokovic, Roger [Federer]. In women’s you never know what is going to happen, so I hope you [Sabalenka] start losing so it’s more entertaining!”

In response to Badosa, three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka claimed that the ATP Tour have a higher level, but the WTA players have to make more sacrifices.

“We have to agree that men’s level is always going to be higher because of their physical abilities but it doesn’t mean that women are not working the same,” explained Sabalenka. “And I think we sacrifice much more.”

What is the prize money for the Qatar Open?

Sabalenka is now gearing up for the Qatar Open, where she is a former champion, with Badosa also featuring as the ninth seed.

The Qatar Open is a WTA 1000 level tournament, which is one level below a Grand Slam and features 56 players in the main draw.

Following the women’s event, Doha will host an ATP 500 tournament which is a lower level than the WTA 1000.

Despite being a higher calibre tournament, the eventual champion of the women’s event will only receive $80,835 more than the men’s champion.

There is also a situation where players in the ATP qualifying draw will actually receive more than the WTA players.

In a bid to close the gender pay gap, the WTA Tour are currently working towards a commitment of having equal prize money at combined 1000 events by 2027.