Iga Swiatek gave her verdict on the current landscape of men’s and women’s tennis after beating Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells.
Swiatek had lost to Sakkari in Doha last month, but she was able to get revenge over the Greek after beating her 6-3, 6-2 in Indian Wells.
After beating Sakkari, Swiatek was asked questions about both the match and other things tennis related in her post-match press conference.
This included being questioned on whether Swiatek now believes men’s and women’s tennis are equal, to which she suggested there may still be one way in which they are not.
Iga Swiatek suggests there could still be inequality with player requests
Swiatek is already one of the best women’s tennis players of this century, having already won six Grand Slam titles at just 24 years old.
The Pole is also unafraid to be vocal on issues within the sport, with Swiatek not in support of women playing best of five sets.
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Swiatek expressed that she was happy with how women’s tennis players are treated after her win over Sakkari, but suggested that there is a possibility that players on the ATP Tour could receive more preferential treatment in terms of schedule requests.
“Honestly, I don’t look at the schedule from this perspective, because, for example for you guys, you can say that, oh, night session is the best match to play, but I want to play day session,” Swiatek explained when asked about inequality between men’s and women’s tennis.
“So, like, if it’s not equal and I’m getting day session, I’ll be fine with it (smiling). So I really didn’t analyze it from this perspective, because I never felt the need to. You kind of just see the schedule and you go with it. Also, sometimes I don’t even know when other players are going or guys, so…
“Hmm. I think the only thing that where inequality could occur is the requests, but I have no idea what other players request, so I have no way to judge that.”
Swiatek added, “I have never been a guy, I’m not on ATP Tour, so I don’t know how they’re treated. But I feel like we have good treatment, so there is nothing I would say is bad, you know, about our life on tour.
“It’s tough, obviously, because this sport is tough, but no, we play the same tournaments, we’re in the same environment, so I don’t know what particularly could be unequal.”
What has Novak Djokovic said about equality between men’s and women’s tennis
Novak Djokovic was asked a similar question about equality between men’s and women’s tennis following his win over Aleksandar Kovacevic at Indian Wells.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was asked equality between the two tours in terms of how it has changed in his 23 years as a professional tennis player.
“Well, it’s not what I think. It’s the fact,” responded Djokovic in his press conference. “Women’s tennis has been by far the most successful, I guess, global woman’s sport and also most paid, so it’s great to see that.
“I’m happy for that, and I’m proud of that. I think it’s in a good place.”
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These comments differ from those that Djokovic made after winning the Indian Wells title in 2016, where he suggested that men should be paid more than women due to the higher number of tickets they sell.
“I have been through that process, as well, so I understand how much power and energy WTA and all the advocates for equal prize money have invested in order to reach that,” Djokovic said in his post-final press conference in 2016.
“I applaud them for that. I honestly do. They 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. But, again, you know, we can’t complain because we also have great prize money in men’s tennis is at the right moment in the right time.”
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