Once again, the most important fortnight in the professional tennis world has concluded, and fans are left celebrating — or mourning — the results of their favorite players. Hundreds of men and women played throughout the two weeks, all attempting to become the next Wimbledon champion within their category. After each competitor battled it out on the court, and the results are in: for the Women’s Singles competition, Serena Williams (No. 1) crushed Angelique Kerber (No. 2) while in the Men’s Singles Andy Murray (No. 2) defeated Milos Raonic (No. 6). Instead of being congratulated by all, the reigning Women’s Singles champion, Serena Williams, has received criticism for one of her Wimbledon matches.
Before the Wimbledon Women’s Single Final, Williams destroyed Russian Elena Vesnina in a semifinal match that lasted a total of 48 minutes; Williams steamrolled into the Women’s Single Final in under an hour. Since her success in the match, many individuals and media outlets have begun raising the question we see far too often (especially in sports): should women receive the same pay as men? Quite a few, including BBC Sport, various male athletes and tennis tournament officials, have drawn attention to the length of Williams' semifinal match and question if women should receive the same pay as men. BBC Sport tweeted, “Her match lasted just 48 minutes…but Serena Williams says female players deserve equal pay.”
Williams responded simply saying, “I don't deserve to be paid less because of my sex. Basically my whole life I’ve been doing this. I haven't had a life. I would like to see people — the public, the press, other athletes in general — just realize and respect women for who they are and what we are and what we do.” Williams draws attention to the fact that the BBC’s tweet is about her sex, not about the actual length of the match; she isn't wrong.
Throughout the history of professional tennis, there have been hundreds of crazy long matches as well as ridiculously short ones, and, believe it or not, this has occurred on the courts of both professional female and male tennis players. One of the shortest matches of all time even happened in recent years between two male players; the match lasted a total of 28 minutes. When Jarkko Nieminen destroyed Bernard Tomic in 28 minutes and 20 seconds, no one questioned if men should receive equal pay. Instead, Nieminen was congratulated.
The 2014 match between Nieminen and Tomic is not a rarity. Some tennis matches are just short. Some sporting events, regardless of the sport, game or sex of the players, are just shorter than others. Two other epically short tennis matches lasted 36 and 40 minutes, both matches played by male athletes. No one questioned their pay. The current Wimbledon Men’s Champion Andy Murray destroyed an opponent five years ago in straight sets; sometimes shorter matches just happen.
Since Wimbledon and other professional tennis tournaments began, players have all fought to become the next champion, and they have all done so in matches of various lengths. Some matches have lasted as long as 11 hours while others have been completed in as short as 20 minutes. Regardless of match lengths, each player has put forth countless hours of training and pre-game preparation that should not be ignored nor forgotten. Therefore, each player should receive the same compensation and respect.
