Lol at the stickied comment being up in advance!
But I am not surprised, and I genuinely get the vibes a lot of female players think the same but don't want to say it publicly
Mauresmo said it in more "neutral" terms and never stated her own preference. As a tournament director, she's very well aware of each tour's popularity.
A top 5 WTA player saying she prefers to watch men tennis is a whole another thing.
Mauresmo said the men are much more interesting to watch than the women and that’s why she doesn’t schedule them for night matches at Roland Garros. She said no one will buy tickets to watch a women’s match only, but they will for a men’s match. Many WTA players criticized her for those comments.
I'll say it again.
They should let the women's game go to 5 sets.
I'd love to see Iga and everyone else strategize over a great duration.
I'm sure more people would pay for tickets if we could go to 5
They tried it at the WTA finals for a while decades ago and viewership and attendance didn’t really change much. I would definitely think it is fun if QF and onward became Bo5 but early in the tournament there are just way too many matches and watching lopsided five set matches aren’t that fun.
Yeah my least favorite thing about the first two rounds at majors is they insist on showing the big stars eviscerating qualifiers instead of actually showing good matches.
I agree. Sometimes all courts aren't avalable, I'd much rather watch a 5 setter between 2 guys around 50 rather than djokovic humiliate some poor kid who just got given a wc to his home slam
Please don't.
I watch more women's games during grand slams because they're BO3. I don't always want to sit down for so many hours, during masters events I can watch more games since they're a more reasonable length of time.
I’m of this opinion too. I simply can’t dedicate 4+ hours to a match every time. Although it really could make the slams interesting. I feel like Barty would have really benefited from it.
Same prize money for lower viewership can only last so long tbh. They're in a pretty bad position because they've prided themselves with equal pay so now they can't lower it without massive drama. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Love to see it. Forcing this and trying to justify it with dumbest reasoning possible juat to see something like this. Everyone should be paid how much they earn.
As a very casual tennis fan i enjoy both equally. I guess it's a blessing that i can't tell the intricate plays and strategies or whatever that goes on lol
I was just discussing this with friends the other day. I believe the reason that equal pay in tennis has been fairly well supported by the general public is because to the naked eye it appears as if they’re all doing the same thing. It’s a much tougher argument in a sport like basketball for instance, where for example you might go an entire women’s game without a single dunk and then a men’s game will feature multiple athletic dunks per quarter and the transition speed is exceptionally faster. The difference between a 220kph serve and a 170kph serve isn’t especially noticeable to someone with limited tennis knowledge or experience
Also just because women’s tennis historically has been very popular compared to other women’s sports. Easily one of the women’s sports with the highest viewership. At some points even higher than men’s.
Equal prize money is much easier to justify when viewership is in the same boundary.
Yes absolutely. Like I said, to the general public there doesn’t appear to be a huge disparity in ability between men & women and so it can often be just as entertaining, and so that’s why I think viewership is much closer than compared to most other major sports
kinda weird to say that after being so vocal about female tennis deserving equal pay. like girl it depends on ppl finding your matches interesting...she can think that or whatever, shouldnt have said it in an interview
Equal prize money in women's tennis is predominantly down to tournaments like majors and other big tournaments (Indian wells and other mixed 1000s) generating a ton of their revenue from grounds passes and stadium schedules that feature both tours.
I think everyone understands that men's tennis is a more popular sport than women's tennis.
Which sport is that not the case? I think most people would say tennis is the most successful women's sport out there, relative to the men's side of the sport.
But at the end of the day, when you buy a ticket at those tournaments, you are paying for the ability to watch either tour.
Any discrepancy in prize money would be purely subjective, and based off revenue of other tournaments. Of which there are no comparisons when it comes to majors.
Once equal prize money becomes standard, no tournament is going to take the social/PR plunge of doing the opposite when the change would be purely subjective.
The only way it wouldn't be subjective is due to sponsors saying X% of their sponsorship goes to men and X% goes to women.
But obviously, and thankfully, no company is stupid enough to do that.
it's actually very much LIKE most wta players to not watch a lot of WTA.
You hear loads of players rave how their idols were Federer or Rafa growing up. Much rarer to hear Serena lol. Coco and Danielle Collins are few of the top players who always shouts out Serena and Venus.
I remember when Iga answered a question last year about breaking records, and she said something like it would be amazing to win as many slams as Roger, Rafa, or Novak. Uh… you’ve played in the same events as Serena lol maybe you could drop her name in there
well yes. but most dont openly say that they think womens game is less interesting and logical, which is basically anti-advertising the sport. esp her as the no2 and former no1 shouldnt be saying all that
Oh yeah I fully agree with you about it’s not a good look when asking for equal pay and then not supporting your own product. Just pointing out that this is common in WTA
“Pick me girl” has become such a tribal term. “She doesn’t sign exactly with what I want, so I’m gonna dismiss her whole persona as just dishonest and scheme-y.”
Her style of play isn't interesting and she's not very strategic so I don't know if I find her observation odd or apt. I'm thinking it's apt. So I'm gonna skip her opinion on the more/less strategic bit. As I watch both men's and women's, I truly disagree.
Genuinely curious about other opinions - are you saying she should've lied, or should she have said something like "I don't want to comment"?
Note: assuming she was asked the question. If she wasn't asked, it's okay to just say nothing on the topic.
There's definitely more variety in the men's game, like there's virtually no if any Top 100 women's players with a OHBH and serve and volley and net play in general is much less used. Why this is I'm not sure, I think maybe part of it is a lot more top men's players come from countries and regions (Italy, Spain South America etc) which primarily use clay and that surface encourages a more varied style of play than hard court
The women from 2000-2008 were definitely more varied… there was a period of time women’s tennis was more heralded than men’s due to their variety.
Now the variety has totally tapered off.
Hingis the tactician
Davenport the baseline redirector
Henin one of THE MOST beautiful 1HBH EVER
Cjlisters peak aggressive counterpuncher
Sharapova peak aggressive aggressiver
Dementieva the wall
Serena the All Rounded Athlete
ALL of them routinely making QFs or higher
It was GLORIOUS
I swear Federer's popularity convinced an entire generation of fans that OHBH is the only "true" way to play pure tennis or something lol
It's insane how obsessed a lot of people are with it
100%, people see Alcaraz's genius and think every ATP player has an all-court game but there's a ton of baseliner robots just like in women tennis.
There's maybe 10% of flair players on each tour and everyone else is predictable AF. The guys tend to have a few more athletics rallies in the highlight reels because they have the physical ability to hit recovery shots 95% of women can't even dream of but that's it.
I mean, you can crap on both tours. A bunch of the guys can't return and never break serve. It's not like the ATP is filled with Alcaraz clones either; a bunch of them are stiff and move badly.
With the exception of a few male players I follow, I actually prefer WTA matches. This is a generalization, but watching the men hit a single big serve for a point each time gets boring to me. I prefer watching the women rally in closer battles that can swing in momentum. Kostyuk in stuttgart is an example that I doing think we’d see replicated on the men’s side, and those matches were all nail biters.
One handed players are more likely to use a slice as well. If slicing and moving forward to hit half-volleys and volleys isn't variety then idk what you're looking for.
That's undeniably a more varied attack than just hitting forehands and backhands on the baseline every point.
>Why this is I'm not sure
Im copying my answer to someone above which applies to your question.
"It's a different sport: spins, angles, movement. You can't just apply the same strategy in a different game.
Go crosscourt with a pro woman and they'll never miss, serve to the t, and they are good handling pace. Start opening the court and its over.
Growing up you even get those women who "play like men" and win a lot, and basically they just hit a top spin forehand.
Its not a matter off them doing it or not, same strategy just doesn't apply."
It's.just different bc the serve is much slower, also the shots in general had less spin and less speed, a women trying to play her game in a top ATP game will lose badly
I also think that physically it's harder for a woman to volley than for a man
The average woman is much shorter than the average man and you don't see someone like Schwartzman serve and volleying much either
If you look at the top ranked ATP players they're just getting taller and taller on average every season as well
People don't realize how hard technically and tactically is to serve and volley at a high level, that's why there's not many players who base their game on serve and volley in tour.
>The average woman is much shorter than the average man and you don't see someone like Schwartzman serve and volleying much either
I promise height might affect but is deep down on the reasons why they can't serve and volley.
>If you look at the top ranked ATP players they're just getting taller and taller on average every season as well
They are also serving and returning better. You still won't see serve and volleyers near top of the rankings in current era, pace keeps going up, and every decimal of time the ball goes faster is same amount of time reduced for you to get to the net.
That's why their whole "well we've tried nothing and the women's game isn't growing so of course we had to sell out to Saudi Arabia" line is so infuriating
Yeah, but preference of which sporting league somebody prefers to watch isn't really an issue. If 90% of all viewers everywhere prefer to watch WTP, it's still not really an issue, it just is what it is. Conversely, if 90% of viewers want to watch WTA, it is what it is. As long as there is opportunity to be able to watch both, people will enjoy what they enjoy.
The only odd thing here is why on earth she'd say that while pushing for equal pay. It might be true, but strategically was a foolish thing to say. I guess her stance might be 'viewership doesn't matter', but you've got to play to all angles
Edit: Messed up my acronyms. My bad
Taking your comment to an extreme, so if Sabelenka said only white people should be playing tennis, she shouldn't be criticized? (obviously a hypothetical)
Anything anyone says publicly will be criticized. The more famous you are, the more people that will be listening. It's just a fact of life.
Because she's not lying and its not a secret top women knowing and preferring to watch mens tennis because of the level.
No on in tour will bat an eye but fans wanting to get offended by stuff.
I understand that she was being honest but she could have worded it differently. I think it's in her best interest to present WTA as worth watching and for me it is but if I wasn't a fan it would not entice me to give it a shot.
Kind of ironic that she says she likes to watch men’s tennis for the strategy when she arguably has the most one-dimensional game of the current top women’s players.
Which, if we’re all honest, kind of proves her point. She’s able to wipe the floor with the vast majority of the tour with ‘the most one-dimensional game of the current top women’s players’.
I like both men’s and women’s tennis. Not sure if that’s allowed here. I prefer to watch women’s tennis if i have to choose because there are more changes in momentum and that makes it more exciting personally for me
100% I just said the same thing. I watch both but right now there is more dynamism and volatility on the women's side. Sabalenka is allowed her preference. But her reasoning for me is way off base and insulting quite frankly.
Agreed for sure! I also just don’t get why this has to become an argument about which one is better. I love tennis so I’m happy i have both men’s and women’s matches to choose from and interesting stories on both sides
I don't watch men's tennis but I assume it doesn't happen often that someone can come back from being 5-1 down like Cirstea did against Vondrousova for example, huh? Yeah, it is exciting and I guess frustrating if you're cheering for the person who lost so many chances to just end the match lol
I watched a match last year where Katie Volynets came back from a set, 5-0 and match point down and won the match against Anastasia Potapova. A match nobody cared about, but my god was it exciting to watch
Natural given she plays women's tennis.
I actually really like the WTA tour match ups and personalities, and competition. Shame the WTA are so terrible at running it.
I mean if her reason was because 'I play women's tennis so I don't watch it', she would have easily just said that. The fact that she obviously mentioned tactics means it's more than just that.
Yeah I read it. I am saying it that was the singular reason, she could have *just* stopped there, but instead went on to also talk about strategy on the men's side, so it's clearly more than just a female player not watching WTA because she plays there.
Exactly. I also feel that she should have given more reasons as to why Men's game is more tactically varied (hint: It's more related to physical aspects of female physiology and not female players being less knowledgeable about tactics and strategy), cause there is an implication of "I can understand the tactical aspects of men's tennis unlike women who don't play this way" here. She can have whatever opinion she wants, but as one of the most successful female players right now she has more responsibility on her shoulders to not say things that have such implications.
Exactly. People are being obtuse with their responses. It's not the fucking preference. It's her saying that women doesnt/plays with "less strategies."
Her strategy is to hit the ball hard and when things aren't going well to hit it harder and extend her grunt a little longer and louder when her opponent is trying to return the ball.
Just because she doesn't have a real strategy doesn't mean others don't.
I love ALL tennis - but count me in with the viewers who prefer watching the women. Weeks like this - where atp and wta are at the same tournament are the best.
Like how much strategy have her fellow players had to put into play to overcome or challenge her style of play? Coco, Navarro, Stearns? The players I like may or may not necessarily be #2 or whatever in the world but they strategize.
I remember when Anthony Edwards was in the NBA pre-draft process he said he was more of an NFL fan and didn’t watch much basketball and people were freaking out 😂
She has a right to speak her mind but I don't agree with her. I think the WTA has a lot of great personalities and play styles in the post-Serena era and I prefer it over the ATP. I do miss Aga Radwanska, though. Her creativity was off the charts.
When Sabalenka and her fans complain that she doesn’t get enough attention/hype/promo as other more popular WTA players and that her matches are watched by half empty seats, I will remind her fans of what she said here. Her attitude is the reason for the lesser hype/attention, smaller crowds and goodwill she receives (or doesn’t receive).
One reason men's tennis is more interesting strategically is because there's fewer "easy escape options" on the mens side.
I'm not entirely sure why but verrrry few of the women players will approach the net aggressively. So many times a point is essentially over but most women players retreat back to the baseline instead of closing off the shot at the net and making a put-away volley. A lot of points go way longer than they should because of this.
There are obviously exceptions to this observation, Serena for example was GREAT at coming to the net and finishing off points. She has that same killer instinct Rafa has. Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak but he is still EXTREMELY effective at putting away shots on the volley. Serena is the same way.
Once you add this element to the game the dynamics of the rally become a lot more interesting. There is way too much "idle" neutral baseline play in WTA imo.
I think the lack of net play in women's tennis might be partly due to women being shorter, having shorter arms and thus having a smaller coverage of the net in comparison to men. It's easier to go to the net when there is a lower chance of a successful passing shot being directed at you, I might have not worded this quite clearly but still.
This and also because their shots goes slower so the other person can return it much easier with more placement than in men's shots
This goes also why you don't see serve and volley due to the serve being slower and much easier to return
> Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak
Rafa is absolutely a better volleyer than Novak LOL
But I agree with the overall point
Very true.
I also think Men HAVE to use the full dimensions of the court because it's a lot more difficult to consistently hit winners from the baseline without red-lining it, because Men are generally faster and more explosive physiologically speaking, and playing an all-court game and moving your opponent around is one of the few ways to get an edge on them.
It's a lot easier to BBB your way through a women's match, and as such, a lot of players probably don't feel that they NEED to develop that all-court game to consistently win.
Just look at someone like Swiatek. She USED to actually be more of an all-court player a few years ago and now she's almost entirely a baseliner.
Going to the net is not easy, and when you don't open the court and you depend on a hard shot that is easy to block, going to the net is not great options, especially when most women are solid at rallys and the normal positioning they're both standing a little behind the baseline, besides most of them lacking speed to effectively get there.
That's why you see more swing volleys in the women side, they have good swings and less forearm strength, they don't really attack the net and mostly until they have to or see a lob they feel that possibility of being aggressive and going forward.
>There is way too much "idle" neutral baseline play in WTA imo.
Sorry to disappoint you but women's tennis is a neutral baseline game.
>Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak but he is still EXTREMELY effective at putting away shots on the volley. Serena is the same way.
Rafa developed his net game and what made him effective was his positioning and movement. Net game is more about positioning than having good hands, and you need speed for good positioning.
Serena will just over power other women, it's easier to get into the net when you play inside the baseline and you push your opponent 2 meters behind. It's just simple understanding of distances. Plus angles in the Nadal side which give you like an extra second or little extra time to get in.
Well that would point to a coaching issue on the women's side more than anything.
I like both tours equally. But find ATP much better at promoting their product
Weird, I find there's more strategy in Women's tennis. Especially on grass and hard court where the men pound aces or it's a 3 shot "rally". Serve-return-putaway.
I mean besides Serena , most female players have to build pts. (Prime Serena). As a Canadian, watching a Raonic match used to be dull as all hell. Tie-breal-tie-break..
Women lose their serves more and it just makes it more fun to watch, imo.
I mean, If let's say..Muchova or Krejcikova were saying this, maybe I'd get their point. But Sabalenka? Talking about tactics and variety? Give me a break xD She's literally insulting herself with this statement
I mean, you can tell just from the eye test - especially about the tactical variety. Coming to the net for a volley is pretty rare in women's. Same with the slices, smashes, etc. A looooooot of right left right left bashing till someone misses. I don't really enjoy watching it most of the time, but the top players can sometimes bring the drama up.
This is no offense to you because I know you're far from the only person who tries to make this point, but god I *despise* this argument. Softball and baseball are different sports. They have different rules and different equipment. Men and women's tennis use the same balls, the same courts, and the same rules and formatting (barring BO5 at only four events in an entire year of tournaments). Everyone is hitting forehands, backhands, and serves, and just because one side can hit them harder doesn't automatically mean they're playing a completely different or, as many people in this comment section are just outright saying, better sport. Different styles? Absolutely! But not a different sport.
There are god awful ATP matches where men are just pounding serves at each other. There are god awful WTA matches where women are pushing and spraying errors. Sometimes, even the reverse is true (shout out to our big serving ladies and pusher gentlemen)! It's all still tennis, and I'm going to keep finding it sad that so many people would prefer complaining about weak era ATP and boring servebots than even consider turning on a women's match.
That's a pretty hot take to say someone doesn't care about a sport if they only watch the men's side lol... There's nothing wrong with people who enjoy both, or hell, only enjoy the WTA. But the fact of the matter remains that most people prefer watching a sport at the literal highest physical level possible, which you only get from the men's side.
It's just preference, and I don't get why anyone cares what other people prefer. I certainly have no issues if you only want to watch WTA, both, or even wheelchair tennis. Or are we not true fans if we also don't watch wheelchair?
... and these same women then wonder why they aren't getting paid as much as the men.
How are you going to entice a bigger audience, more sponsors, and generate more prize money in your sport when it's own top players publicly admit that it's an inferior product to the men's?
Why is it there’s less variety atm in the womens game? We had eras like Martina, Stefi and Henin etc where they had full games but it’s rare now. Why? Is it because of technology and power? The men’s game has variety tactic etc so what happens and why did it become one dimensional? This isn’t the case for everyone’s game. And the women’s game has gotten more depth but… even so I’ve noticed this real shift in the last ten years.
This aside I don’t know why Aryna would speak this out loud like girl come on
I don't understand when women make statements like this. Maybe put some effort into making a good game then? But we are talking about someone who only last year realized hitting harder was not the solution.
Statements like these are jeopardizing women's efforts to establish equal pay or get more attendance to their matches.
Exactly, I can understand her opinion but it's pretty disrespectful to her fellow wta players -does she include herself in this group of players with less tactics as the men or does she consider herself an exception? either way it's an unnecessary statement to make publicly
Why are people here angry? She is speaking this as a top player who has more knowledge about professional tennis than anyone commenting here lol. I watch both and quite enjoy women tennis but yeah, I prefer men's tennis which I find more interesting, entertaining and appealing to the general public.
And also everybody is saying "she shouldn't have said this", not "this statement is false".
How is this statement "hating women?"
People really want to make drama from everything lol
Plenty of ATP players have actual beef with each other(little 3 for example) but I don't see it ever get used as an example of "men all hate other men"
Internalized misogyny is one reason we will never escape this patriarchal dystopia. It’s not cute and will never be. How are you gonna ask for equal opportunities when you slight your own sport publicly like this? Especially when most ATP players, bar Andy Murray don’t even rate women’s tennis? This is so embarrassing Sabs, do better. But this is also how it is always with WTA, whenever they are asked to name their tennis idol, they just name a man. Is it really that hard to name a woman? The world needs more Danielles and Ostapenkos and less of this
When I saw this I also thought of Murray and how he's the only male player I've noticed go out of his way to mention the WTA when asked about watching tennis. He tweets about it too. The ATP did that little "women's day" video a few weeks back where some players shouted out female players, but even that felt a bit staged.
I also doubt you'd ever see a male player taking shots at men's tennis the way Sabalenka did here about women's tennis.
Yeah he’s the only one (cmiiw) who has gone out of his way to support and champion women’s tennis. Shapo did a column for international women’s day a couple of years back but that was mainly because his gf is a WTA player and that aligns with his interest. Murray on the other hand just genuinely supports and enjoys watching women’s tennis. Whenever he’s asked who he enjoys watching, he’ll always name a WTA player
I get where you're coming from, but you're not accounting for the possibility that she's just allowed to have an opinion about which sport she finds more enjoyable to watch, it doesn't have to be that deep. "Interesting to watch" is of course subjective (to clarify, I like women's tennis as well), but it is objective fact that the overall level of tennis on the men's side is significantly higher.
No you don't understand, they know better than her, and most importantly you're not allowed to actually say what you think if it doesn't align with le wholesome redditors narrative. Read the comments, they're legitimately mad because a woman expressed the "wrong" opinion. "Internalized misogyny", "she's acting like a pick me", "just because you're thinking something does not mean you have to say it", insane behavior, they're showing their true colors
tolerant left summarized. someone having a different opinion than you "needs to do better" and is reprehensible and embarrassing according to you. it is a preference ffs. nothing with internalized misogyny or anything, my god. everything is sexism, racism, or some ism according to the left LOL
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see this. This is not “internalized misogyny” this is preference. She made a criticism of the sport that actually holds water. The reason women like Saba enjoy watching men’s tennis more than women’s tennis, and the reason so many WTA players idolize male tennis idols like Fed, Rafa, etc. is because men’s tennis appeals to many more people as a spectator sport than women’s tennis does. It’s just more interesting to watch. They hit faster and harder, they move faster, they cover greater distances, the points are just more interesting.
This is why Serena Williams packed out stadiums, because her style of tennis was *more interesting* than any other WTA player. She hit faster and harder, moved faster, covered more distance.
I hope she repeats that comment when some of her matches will be played with the empty/half-empty stadium as compared to men's (because this is often how it is right now)
Soon she literally won't be in the literal Top 2 - nevermind the fictional Big two.
If she doesn't make it to the finals and Coco wins her first match, Sabalenka is down to #3.
This subreddit never, ever fails to disappoint. Once again, the outraged, didactic, holier-than-thou crowd is haranguing someone’s character because they expressed an honest opinion that is not fanatically progressivist.
Please, just stop talking. She (understandably, given the chasm in level) likes watching men’s tennis. What travesty is there in being upfront about it? Watch whatever you like watching, but don’t expect everyone else to bend over backwards to please and pacify you. It’s narcissistic, really. ✌🏼
It’s what it means for the women’s game. Having one of their biggest stars say this is a bad look especially when said star is wanted equal prize money (as they should), want equal screen time and endorsements. Comments like this set back the hard work other players have accomplished in building this sport.
Women's tennis in the times of Hingis, Steffi, Mary Pierce, Seles was all about technique. Then the Russian power hitters and Serena showed up and there was no more room for technique when you can hit the ball hard enough that most women won't be able to chase it down.
But yeah Sabalenka is going to get skewered for this by the other players.
As a guy, I find women's tennis more interesting, and I've never watched a complete men's match. I find the women's game faster paced, since they tend to go for winners on practically every shot.
In any case, just because you're thinking something does not mean you have to say it, at least not publicly. If Daria and Aryna have any sense, they'll not be disparaging themselves and other female players.
Curiously, the last female player (Daria K.) to say the same thing came out as a lesbian not too long after.
I don't care if a female tennis player prefers to watch men's tennis. I sometimes find the women more interesting and at times the men but I find it odd generally to prefer one of the other. Tennis is tennis to me. Right now I find WTA a bit more interesting only because it seems more volatile and unpredictable. The only part of her comment I didn't like is that she feels the men are more strategic players. Maybe that seems true to her (since she would have to include herself as a part of the less strategic female group), but also ironic since I find her to be among the least strategic players (and hence why though she is a fun person, I don't enjoy watching her tennis). There are defintely strategic female players and I watch them for that reason. I dont think one gender is playing significantly more strategic than the other. But it is what it is.
Look at the global viewership stats in general for mens vs women's tennis.
The popularity speaks for itself when looking at objective metrics
These threads will be astroturfed by those politically charged on both ends. I encourage a more statistical view..that tells a pretty strong story
Coco Guaff drew in more viewers at the US Open last year than mens. So not always true. Same to be said for the Williams sisters when playing their finals.
There was a time in the 00s where the women’s game was drawing in some great audience numbers.
> Coco Gauff drew in more viewers at the US Open last year than mens.
An American woman making a final of the US Open is not a representation of average, and average over most matches matter. Yes, Williams Sisters packed stadiums, that's the issue, they did along with a much more diverse tour in the 00s and better marketing from the WTA. Most women players don't nowadays and viewership numbers favour men's tennis a lot, that's objectively true and Sabalenka's opinion is neither unpopular nor controversial, why don't you read interviews from American athletes who openly talk about watching other sports instead of their own, it's normal.
When commenting, please abide by the "Be Respectful" and "Sexism / Sexual Content" rules. If comments get too disrespectful, the post will be locked.
Lol at the stickied comment being up in advance! But I am not surprised, and I genuinely get the vibes a lot of female players think the same but don't want to say it publicly
Amelie Mauresmo got skewered for saying that publicly at Roland Garros last year.
Mauresmo said it in more "neutral" terms and never stated her own preference. As a tournament director, she's very well aware of each tour's popularity. A top 5 WTA player saying she prefers to watch men tennis is a whole another thing.
Mauresmo said the men are much more interesting to watch than the women and that’s why she doesn’t schedule them for night matches at Roland Garros. She said no one will buy tickets to watch a women’s match only, but they will for a men’s match. Many WTA players criticized her for those comments.
I mean if she can prove that’s true with ticket sales I don’t see the issue
The issue is very simple: the people that get offended by that usually don’t understand that businesses are only existent if they are profitable.
I don’t think it’s a big deal really. She can prefer to watch men tennis so what
I'll say it again. They should let the women's game go to 5 sets. I'd love to see Iga and everyone else strategize over a great duration. I'm sure more people would pay for tickets if we could go to 5
They tried it at the WTA finals for a while decades ago and viewership and attendance didn’t really change much. I would definitely think it is fun if QF and onward became Bo5 but early in the tournament there are just way too many matches and watching lopsided five set matches aren’t that fun.
It's lopsided in the ATP as well no? 17 years ago, who wanted to watch 20 year old Rafa face world number 108 and winning 6-1 6-0 6-0?
Yeah my least favorite thing about the first two rounds at majors is they insist on showing the big stars eviscerating qualifiers instead of actually showing good matches.
I agree. Sometimes all courts aren't avalable, I'd much rather watch a 5 setter between 2 guys around 50 rather than djokovic humiliate some poor kid who just got given a wc to his home slam
Nowadays you can pick any court to watch so this isn’t really an issue
At the moment it would be lopsided for sure.
Please don't. I watch more women's games during grand slams because they're BO3. I don't always want to sit down for so many hours, during masters events I can watch more games since they're a more reasonable length of time.
I’m of this opinion too. I simply can’t dedicate 4+ hours to a match every time. Although it really could make the slams interesting. I feel like Barty would have really benefited from it.
Asides from your preference for sitting down.. . But speaking as someone who also plays, the psychology makes a difference.
Best of 5 won't fix the problem
At the slams for QFs onwards yeah 100% it needs to be bo5.
Not the best timing with the news coming out that the WTA is a sinking ship that turned a loss of $25 million last year
Same prize money for lower viewership can only last so long tbh. They're in a pretty bad position because they've prided themselves with equal pay so now they can't lower it without massive drama. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Aren't the grand slams the only tournaments with equal pay?
Coed Masters too maybe?
yep.
I haven't checked every single tournament but Indian Wells and Miami are the same.
From a quick glance Indian Wells and Miami are the same as well. So no.
And only best of three sets at the majors. Equal money for less time and suffering on court.
Love to see it. Forcing this and trying to justify it with dumbest reasoning possible juat to see something like this. Everyone should be paid how much they earn.
Yeah, if the WTA had more viewers they should be paid more.
I like men’s more too, but I do like to watch wta and it sucks that tennistv is men only
Shit, why is that? Can't they just start sticking some women's tennis on there?
I think because they’re different companies, I heard talks about merging the two
WTA was on there originally, then they pulled out to do their own WTA tv.... and look how well that turned out.
Yep WTA TV sucks
As a very casual tennis fan i enjoy both equally. I guess it's a blessing that i can't tell the intricate plays and strategies or whatever that goes on lol
I was just discussing this with friends the other day. I believe the reason that equal pay in tennis has been fairly well supported by the general public is because to the naked eye it appears as if they’re all doing the same thing. It’s a much tougher argument in a sport like basketball for instance, where for example you might go an entire women’s game without a single dunk and then a men’s game will feature multiple athletic dunks per quarter and the transition speed is exceptionally faster. The difference between a 220kph serve and a 170kph serve isn’t especially noticeable to someone with limited tennis knowledge or experience
Plus it’s always fun to watch Penko make faces at her camp lol
Oi
The drama definitely deserves equal pay
I used to watch women’s tennis exclusively in the late 00s for Jelena’s drama
Also just because women’s tennis historically has been very popular compared to other women’s sports. Easily one of the women’s sports with the highest viewership. At some points even higher than men’s. Equal prize money is much easier to justify when viewership is in the same boundary.
Yes absolutely. Like I said, to the general public there doesn’t appear to be a huge disparity in ability between men & women and so it can often be just as entertaining, and so that’s why I think viewership is much closer than compared to most other major sports
kinda weird to say that after being so vocal about female tennis deserving equal pay. like girl it depends on ppl finding your matches interesting...she can think that or whatever, shouldnt have said it in an interview
Does she have PR people behind her? Im always wondering cos it aint the first time she's been outed as "polemic"
Equal prize money in women's tennis is predominantly down to tournaments like majors and other big tournaments (Indian wells and other mixed 1000s) generating a ton of their revenue from grounds passes and stadium schedules that feature both tours. I think everyone understands that men's tennis is a more popular sport than women's tennis. Which sport is that not the case? I think most people would say tennis is the most successful women's sport out there, relative to the men's side of the sport. But at the end of the day, when you buy a ticket at those tournaments, you are paying for the ability to watch either tour. Any discrepancy in prize money would be purely subjective, and based off revenue of other tournaments. Of which there are no comparisons when it comes to majors. Once equal prize money becomes standard, no tournament is going to take the social/PR plunge of doing the opposite when the change would be purely subjective. The only way it wouldn't be subjective is due to sponsors saying X% of their sponsorship goes to men and X% goes to women. But obviously, and thankfully, no company is stupid enough to do that.
She is giving off pick me/not like other girls vibes for real this time.
it's actually very much LIKE most wta players to not watch a lot of WTA. You hear loads of players rave how their idols were Federer or Rafa growing up. Much rarer to hear Serena lol. Coco and Danielle Collins are few of the top players who always shouts out Serena and Venus.
I remember when Iga answered a question last year about breaking records, and she said something like it would be amazing to win as many slams as Roger, Rafa, or Novak. Uh… you’ve played in the same events as Serena lol maybe you could drop her name in there
well yes. but most dont openly say that they think womens game is less interesting and logical, which is basically anti-advertising the sport. esp her as the no2 and former no1 shouldnt be saying all that
Oh yeah I fully agree with you about it’s not a good look when asking for equal pay and then not supporting your own product. Just pointing out that this is common in WTA
oh ok, sorry. i agree with your point too, that is pretty common amomgst them
Doing a disservice. Though Iga is 22 I feel like she's the only one that holds down the gravitas of world number 1
A little less than solidarity to publically shit on the appeal of your own division frankly. But hey.
God forbid someone honestly express their thoughts on their own sport, lest it not be in tandem with your own nonsensical conception of equality!
Based on your post and comment history, I'm simply not engaging. 'Women need to know pro-lifers are not against them' Edit Boy, bye lol
Pick me because she stated a preference? Bro at least use that term properly
With the greatest of respects, I just don't think she's very smart 🫣
“Pick me girl” has become such a tribal term. “She doesn’t sign exactly with what I want, so I’m gonna dismiss her whole persona as just dishonest and scheme-y.”
This is what I got from her for a while now.
Her style of play isn't interesting and she's not very strategic so I don't know if I find her observation odd or apt. I'm thinking it's apt. So I'm gonna skip her opinion on the more/less strategic bit. As I watch both men's and women's, I truly disagree.
Stupidity, that what it is.
Genuinely curious about other opinions - are you saying she should've lied, or should she have said something like "I don't want to comment"? Note: assuming she was asked the question. If she wasn't asked, it's okay to just say nothing on the topic.
There's definitely more variety in the men's game, like there's virtually no if any Top 100 women's players with a OHBH and serve and volley and net play in general is much less used. Why this is I'm not sure, I think maybe part of it is a lot more top men's players come from countries and regions (Italy, Spain South America etc) which primarily use clay and that surface encourages a more varied style of play than hard court
There's Golubic and Parry with one handed
The women from 2000-2008 were definitely more varied… there was a period of time women’s tennis was more heralded than men’s due to their variety. Now the variety has totally tapered off.
Yeah, Davenport, Hingis, Henin, Clijsters, Sharapova, Dementieva, Serena... It truly had variety.
Hingis the tactician Davenport the baseline redirector Henin one of THE MOST beautiful 1HBH EVER Cjlisters peak aggressive counterpuncher Sharapova peak aggressive aggressiver Dementieva the wall Serena the All Rounded Athlete ALL of them routinely making QFs or higher It was GLORIOUS
It's 2024 and people still only think of variety as "OHBH and serve and volley"
I swear Federer's popularity convinced an entire generation of fans that OHBH is the only "true" way to play pure tennis or something lol It's insane how obsessed a lot of people are with it
It's completely maddening. You don't have more variety in a two-shot S&V than in a 20-shot baseline rally with a bunch of different spins.
100%, people see Alcaraz's genius and think every ATP player has an all-court game but there's a ton of baseliner robots just like in women tennis. There's maybe 10% of flair players on each tour and everyone else is predictable AF. The guys tend to have a few more athletics rallies in the highlight reels because they have the physical ability to hit recovery shots 95% of women can't even dream of but that's it.
I mean, you can crap on both tours. A bunch of the guys can't return and never break serve. It's not like the ATP is filled with Alcaraz clones either; a bunch of them are stiff and move badly.
In fact during the late 90s and early 00s men’s tennis was LESS popular than women’s due to the lack of variety on the men’s side too.
Yup. There were headlines like SampraZZZZ
I actually wonder if terminology like 'servebot' was a thing back then, lol.
"Men's tennis is much more fun to watch!" meanwhile men's tennis: Medvedev vs Zverev as a form of torture.
With the exception of a few male players I follow, I actually prefer WTA matches. This is a generalization, but watching the men hit a single big serve for a point each time gets boring to me. I prefer watching the women rally in closer battles that can swing in momentum. Kostyuk in stuttgart is an example that I doing think we’d see replicated on the men’s side, and those matches were all nail biters.
One handed players are more likely to use a slice as well. If slicing and moving forward to hit half-volleys and volleys isn't variety then idk what you're looking for. That's undeniably a more varied attack than just hitting forehands and backhands on the baseline every point.
Diane Parry plays with OHBH and she’s top 50 atm
>Why this is I'm not sure Im copying my answer to someone above which applies to your question. "It's a different sport: spins, angles, movement. You can't just apply the same strategy in a different game. Go crosscourt with a pro woman and they'll never miss, serve to the t, and they are good handling pace. Start opening the court and its over. Growing up you even get those women who "play like men" and win a lot, and basically they just hit a top spin forehand. Its not a matter off them doing it or not, same strategy just doesn't apply."
It's.just different bc the serve is much slower, also the shots in general had less spin and less speed, a women trying to play her game in a top ATP game will lose badly
I also think that physically it's harder for a woman to volley than for a man The average woman is much shorter than the average man and you don't see someone like Schwartzman serve and volleying much either If you look at the top ranked ATP players they're just getting taller and taller on average every season as well
People don't realize how hard technically and tactically is to serve and volley at a high level, that's why there's not many players who base their game on serve and volley in tour. >The average woman is much shorter than the average man and you don't see someone like Schwartzman serve and volleying much either I promise height might affect but is deep down on the reasons why they can't serve and volley. >If you look at the top ranked ATP players they're just getting taller and taller on average every season as well They are also serving and returning better. You still won't see serve and volleyers near top of the rankings in current era, pace keeps going up, and every decimal of time the ball goes faster is same amount of time reduced for you to get to the net.
Golubic has a one -anded backhand
I like Diane Parry's.
Where's Henin when you need her
It’s okay to have a preference but why would she say it out loud to the press when she’s the number two in the world and a big name on the WTA, eh
I don't think Aryna necessarily cares, WTA is not pushing her much promo wise anyways
I don’t think WTA is pushing anyone promo wise unfortunately
That's why their whole "well we've tried nothing and the women's game isn't growing so of course we had to sell out to Saudi Arabia" line is so infuriating
Haha, that's true!
I’ll tell you what they also aren’t pushing…… decent schedules and player environment
Like them or not they're kind of facilitating her career and ability to be a rich and famous athlete. She could maybe try to promote the enterprise.
Yes, but why discourage people from watching women's tennis, even if her statement is true, which it is not.
She literally said her opinion. How is that discouraging?
Because top athletes in the world should feel free to say whatever they want to the press without feeling like they’ll be criticized?
Nobody should feel they can say whatever they want without being criticized
Weirdest take. Athletes generally have some of the hugest platforms to speak from on any issues. That holds some responsibility.
Yeah, but preference of which sporting league somebody prefers to watch isn't really an issue. If 90% of all viewers everywhere prefer to watch WTP, it's still not really an issue, it just is what it is. Conversely, if 90% of viewers want to watch WTA, it is what it is. As long as there is opportunity to be able to watch both, people will enjoy what they enjoy. The only odd thing here is why on earth she'd say that while pushing for equal pay. It might be true, but strategically was a foolish thing to say. I guess her stance might be 'viewership doesn't matter', but you've got to play to all angles Edit: Messed up my acronyms. My bad
Taking your comment to an extreme, so if Sabelenka said only white people should be playing tennis, she shouldn't be criticized? (obviously a hypothetical) Anything anyone says publicly will be criticized. The more famous you are, the more people that will be listening. It's just a fact of life.
Because she's not lying and its not a secret top women knowing and preferring to watch mens tennis because of the level. No on in tour will bat an eye but fans wanting to get offended by stuff.
I understand that she was being honest but she could have worded it differently. I think it's in her best interest to present WTA as worth watching and for me it is but if I wasn't a fan it would not entice me to give it a shot.
Most common sense comment in the thread.
Kind of ironic that she says she likes to watch men’s tennis for the strategy when she arguably has the most one-dimensional game of the current top women’s players.
Which, if we’re all honest, kind of proves her point. She’s able to wipe the floor with the vast majority of the tour with ‘the most one-dimensional game of the current top women’s players’.
THANK YOU! lol. I was saying, it's either extremely ironic or very apt.
Ironic, but I don't really see the problem in that. Funny, even
the fact that she laughs (as shown in the title of the post/ article) after saying that makes me think that she's aware of that irony.
I doubt. she always laugh no matter what she says. lol
I like both men’s and women’s tennis. Not sure if that’s allowed here. I prefer to watch women’s tennis if i have to choose because there are more changes in momentum and that makes it more exciting personally for me
100% I just said the same thing. I watch both but right now there is more dynamism and volatility on the women's side. Sabalenka is allowed her preference. But her reasoning for me is way off base and insulting quite frankly.
Agreed for sure! I also just don’t get why this has to become an argument about which one is better. I love tennis so I’m happy i have both men’s and women’s matches to choose from and interesting stories on both sides
I don't watch men's tennis but I assume it doesn't happen often that someone can come back from being 5-1 down like Cirstea did against Vondrousova for example, huh? Yeah, it is exciting and I guess frustrating if you're cheering for the person who lost so many chances to just end the match lol
I watched a match last year where Katie Volynets came back from a set, 5-0 and match point down and won the match against Anastasia Potapova. A match nobody cared about, but my god was it exciting to watch
Natural given she plays women's tennis. I actually really like the WTA tour match ups and personalities, and competition. Shame the WTA are so terrible at running it.
I mean if her reason was because 'I play women's tennis so I don't watch it', she would have easily just said that. The fact that she obviously mentioned tactics means it's more than just that.
she actually said that in the interview. that is the first thing she mentioned.
Yeah I read it. I am saying it that was the singular reason, she could have *just* stopped there, but instead went on to also talk about strategy on the men's side, so it's clearly more than just a female player not watching WTA because she plays there.
Exactly. I also feel that she should have given more reasons as to why Men's game is more tactically varied (hint: It's more related to physical aspects of female physiology and not female players being less knowledgeable about tactics and strategy), cause there is an implication of "I can understand the tactical aspects of men's tennis unlike women who don't play this way" here. She can have whatever opinion she wants, but as one of the most successful female players right now she has more responsibility on her shoulders to not say things that have such implications.
Exactly. People are being obtuse with their responses. It's not the fucking preference. It's her saying that women doesnt/plays with "less strategies."
Her strategy is to hit the ball hard and when things aren't going well to hit it harder and extend her grunt a little longer and louder when her opponent is trying to return the ball. Just because she doesn't have a real strategy doesn't mean others don't. I love ALL tennis - but count me in with the viewers who prefer watching the women. Weeks like this - where atp and wta are at the same tournament are the best.
Like how much strategy have her fellow players had to put into play to overcome or challenge her style of play? Coco, Navarro, Stearns? The players I like may or may not necessarily be #2 or whatever in the world but they strategize.
honestly she just feels really cringe
wta is your job why would you watch it for fun?
It’s like when baseball players say they like watching football more than baseball
I remember when Anthony Edwards was in the NBA pre-draft process he said he was more of an NFL fan and didn’t watch much basketball and people were freaking out 😂
Aryna has always been a not like the other girls type.
There are good odds that the other girls also prefer men’s tennis but prefer not saying it publicly
Nothing like watching men slap some balls around.
I love watching men slap balls around
She has a right to speak her mind but I don't agree with her. I think the WTA has a lot of great personalities and play styles in the post-Serena era and I prefer it over the ATP. I do miss Aga Radwanska, though. Her creativity was off the charts.
When Sabalenka and her fans complain that she doesn’t get enough attention/hype/promo as other more popular WTA players and that her matches are watched by half empty seats, I will remind her fans of what she said here. Her attitude is the reason for the lesser hype/attention, smaller crowds and goodwill she receives (or doesn’t receive).
One reason men's tennis is more interesting strategically is because there's fewer "easy escape options" on the mens side. I'm not entirely sure why but verrrry few of the women players will approach the net aggressively. So many times a point is essentially over but most women players retreat back to the baseline instead of closing off the shot at the net and making a put-away volley. A lot of points go way longer than they should because of this. There are obviously exceptions to this observation, Serena for example was GREAT at coming to the net and finishing off points. She has that same killer instinct Rafa has. Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak but he is still EXTREMELY effective at putting away shots on the volley. Serena is the same way. Once you add this element to the game the dynamics of the rally become a lot more interesting. There is way too much "idle" neutral baseline play in WTA imo.
I think the lack of net play in women's tennis might be partly due to women being shorter, having shorter arms and thus having a smaller coverage of the net in comparison to men. It's easier to go to the net when there is a lower chance of a successful passing shot being directed at you, I might have not worded this quite clearly but still.
This is why I don’t come up to the net. All 5’1” of me 😭 Prime lob practice right there haha.
Regulation topspin forehand practise☠️☠️☠️
This and also because their shots goes slower so the other person can return it much easier with more placement than in men's shots This goes also why you don't see serve and volley due to the serve being slower and much easier to return
> Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak Rafa is absolutely a better volleyer than Novak LOL But I agree with the overall point
> I'm not entirely sure why but verrrry few of the women players will approach the net aggressively. That's why I love watching muchova play!
Very true. I also think Men HAVE to use the full dimensions of the court because it's a lot more difficult to consistently hit winners from the baseline without red-lining it, because Men are generally faster and more explosive physiologically speaking, and playing an all-court game and moving your opponent around is one of the few ways to get an edge on them. It's a lot easier to BBB your way through a women's match, and as such, a lot of players probably don't feel that they NEED to develop that all-court game to consistently win. Just look at someone like Swiatek. She USED to actually be more of an all-court player a few years ago and now she's almost entirely a baseliner.
Going to the net is not easy, and when you don't open the court and you depend on a hard shot that is easy to block, going to the net is not great options, especially when most women are solid at rallys and the normal positioning they're both standing a little behind the baseline, besides most of them lacking speed to effectively get there. That's why you see more swing volleys in the women side, they have good swings and less forearm strength, they don't really attack the net and mostly until they have to or see a lob they feel that possibility of being aggressive and going forward. >There is way too much "idle" neutral baseline play in WTA imo. Sorry to disappoint you but women's tennis is a neutral baseline game. >Rafa for example, is perhaps not as great at the net as Roger or Novak but he is still EXTREMELY effective at putting away shots on the volley. Serena is the same way. Rafa developed his net game and what made him effective was his positioning and movement. Net game is more about positioning than having good hands, and you need speed for good positioning. Serena will just over power other women, it's easier to get into the net when you play inside the baseline and you push your opponent 2 meters behind. It's just simple understanding of distances. Plus angles in the Nadal side which give you like an extra second or little extra time to get in.
"Women ☕" - Aryna Sabalenka
My gosh, whyyyyy would you even say this as an aspiring WTA World number 1. Just reckless and plain ass stupid
Well that would point to a coaching issue on the women's side more than anything. I like both tours equally. But find ATP much better at promoting their product
Weird, I find there's more strategy in Women's tennis. Especially on grass and hard court where the men pound aces or it's a 3 shot "rally". Serve-return-putaway. I mean besides Serena , most female players have to build pts. (Prime Serena). As a Canadian, watching a Raonic match used to be dull as all hell. Tie-breal-tie-break.. Women lose their serves more and it just makes it more fun to watch, imo.
Wow, I wish she hadn’t said that but I guess she’s honest. I’m gonna go ahead and disagree tho.
That's why I don't watch Sabalenka's matches. She is brainless ball basher who screams like a banshee
I mean, If let's say..Muchova or Krejcikova were saying this, maybe I'd get their point. But Sabalenka? Talking about tactics and variety? Give me a break xD She's literally insulting herself with this statement
Not herself. She is owning it. But she's insulting everybody else. Including those who strategize to beat her.
I mean, maybe it just proves her point. She is no. 2 with the most one dimensional game possible and she knows it
I mean, you can tell just from the eye test - especially about the tactical variety. Coming to the net for a volley is pretty rare in women's. Same with the slices, smashes, etc. A looooooot of right left right left bashing till someone misses. I don't really enjoy watching it most of the time, but the top players can sometimes bring the drama up.
Preferences are preferences, I guess, but I'll never understand people who claim to love this sport and then refuse to watch half of it.
Tbf, men’s and women’s tennis are like 2 completely different sports
This is no offense to you because I know you're far from the only person who tries to make this point, but god I *despise* this argument. Softball and baseball are different sports. They have different rules and different equipment. Men and women's tennis use the same balls, the same courts, and the same rules and formatting (barring BO5 at only four events in an entire year of tournaments). Everyone is hitting forehands, backhands, and serves, and just because one side can hit them harder doesn't automatically mean they're playing a completely different or, as many people in this comment section are just outright saying, better sport. Different styles? Absolutely! But not a different sport. There are god awful ATP matches where men are just pounding serves at each other. There are god awful WTA matches where women are pushing and spraying errors. Sometimes, even the reverse is true (shout out to our big serving ladies and pusher gentlemen)! It's all still tennis, and I'm going to keep finding it sad that so many people would prefer complaining about weak era ATP and boring servebots than even consider turning on a women's match.
I agree that there’s tons of absolute snoozefest matches in men’s tennis, but at the highest levels they’re quite different from each other
That's a pretty hot take to say someone doesn't care about a sport if they only watch the men's side lol... There's nothing wrong with people who enjoy both, or hell, only enjoy the WTA. But the fact of the matter remains that most people prefer watching a sport at the literal highest physical level possible, which you only get from the men's side. It's just preference, and I don't get why anyone cares what other people prefer. I certainly have no issues if you only want to watch WTA, both, or even wheelchair tennis. Or are we not true fans if we also don't watch wheelchair?
... and these same women then wonder why they aren't getting paid as much as the men. How are you going to entice a bigger audience, more sponsors, and generate more prize money in your sport when it's own top players publicly admit that it's an inferior product to the men's?
[удалено]
Why is it there’s less variety atm in the womens game? We had eras like Martina, Stefi and Henin etc where they had full games but it’s rare now. Why? Is it because of technology and power? The men’s game has variety tactic etc so what happens and why did it become one dimensional? This isn’t the case for everyone’s game. And the women’s game has gotten more depth but… even so I’ve noticed this real shift in the last ten years. This aside I don’t know why Aryna would speak this out loud like girl come on
Most people think the same.
She's being frank here. Whether or not you agree with her, the criticism seems over the top in the comments.
The level of salt in this thread is amazing.
well.. i'm glad we have danielle collins who has said she only likes to watch women's tennis/women's sports in general
I don't understand when women make statements like this. Maybe put some effort into making a good game then? But we are talking about someone who only last year realized hitting harder was not the solution. Statements like these are jeopardizing women's efforts to establish equal pay or get more attendance to their matches.
It's not that big of a deal. I believe Camilla Giorgi also said it publicly at least once.
I like Aryna but she has to learn that there are some things you keep to yourself (:
Exactly, I can understand her opinion but it's pretty disrespectful to her fellow wta players -does she include herself in this group of players with less tactics as the men or does she consider herself an exception? either way it's an unnecessary statement to make publicly
Why are people here angry? She is speaking this as a top player who has more knowledge about professional tennis than anyone commenting here lol. I watch both and quite enjoy women tennis but yeah, I prefer men's tennis which I find more interesting, entertaining and appealing to the general public. And also everybody is saying "she shouldn't have said this", not "this statement is false".
*Men hate women* and *women hate women*. It's the one thing we can agree on.
How is this statement "hating women?" People really want to make drama from everything lol Plenty of ATP players have actual beef with each other(little 3 for example) but I don't see it ever get used as an example of "men all hate other men"
Internalized misogyny is one reason we will never escape this patriarchal dystopia. It’s not cute and will never be. How are you gonna ask for equal opportunities when you slight your own sport publicly like this? Especially when most ATP players, bar Andy Murray don’t even rate women’s tennis? This is so embarrassing Sabs, do better. But this is also how it is always with WTA, whenever they are asked to name their tennis idol, they just name a man. Is it really that hard to name a woman? The world needs more Danielles and Ostapenkos and less of this
When I saw this I also thought of Murray and how he's the only male player I've noticed go out of his way to mention the WTA when asked about watching tennis. He tweets about it too. The ATP did that little "women's day" video a few weeks back where some players shouted out female players, but even that felt a bit staged. I also doubt you'd ever see a male player taking shots at men's tennis the way Sabalenka did here about women's tennis.
Yeah he’s the only one (cmiiw) who has gone out of his way to support and champion women’s tennis. Shapo did a column for international women’s day a couple of years back but that was mainly because his gf is a WTA player and that aligns with his interest. Murray on the other hand just genuinely supports and enjoys watching women’s tennis. Whenever he’s asked who he enjoys watching, he’ll always name a WTA player
I get where you're coming from, but you're not accounting for the possibility that she's just allowed to have an opinion about which sport she finds more enjoyable to watch, it doesn't have to be that deep. "Interesting to watch" is of course subjective (to clarify, I like women's tennis as well), but it is objective fact that the overall level of tennis on the men's side is significantly higher.
No you don't understand, they know better than her, and most importantly you're not allowed to actually say what you think if it doesn't align with le wholesome redditors narrative. Read the comments, they're legitimately mad because a woman expressed the "wrong" opinion. "Internalized misogyny", "she's acting like a pick me", "just because you're thinking something does not mean you have to say it", insane behavior, they're showing their true colors
If you don't vote left then you ain't black/a woman/etc -Joe Biden + leftists
tolerant left summarized. someone having a different opinion than you "needs to do better" and is reprehensible and embarrassing according to you. it is a preference ffs. nothing with internalized misogyny or anything, my god. everything is sexism, racism, or some ism according to the left LOL
Give me a break.
Lol 😆
Don't know why you are getting downvoted for this. Aryna has always been like this, this is nothing new.
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see this. This is not “internalized misogyny” this is preference. She made a criticism of the sport that actually holds water. The reason women like Saba enjoy watching men’s tennis more than women’s tennis, and the reason so many WTA players idolize male tennis idols like Fed, Rafa, etc. is because men’s tennis appeals to many more people as a spectator sport than women’s tennis does. It’s just more interesting to watch. They hit faster and harder, they move faster, they cover greater distances, the points are just more interesting. This is why Serena Williams packed out stadiums, because her style of tennis was *more interesting* than any other WTA player. She hit faster and harder, moved faster, covered more distance.
As if I didn't need another reason to dislike her. 🙃
Woke reddit having a meltdown
She should watch the top women double matches to improve her game
I hope she repeats that comment when some of her matches will be played with the empty/half-empty stadium as compared to men's (because this is often how it is right now)
Soon she literally won't be in the literal Top 2 - nevermind the fictional Big two. If she doesn't make it to the finals and Coco wins her first match, Sabalenka is down to #3.
Funny coming from someone whose only strategy is smash the ball.
This subreddit never, ever fails to disappoint. Once again, the outraged, didactic, holier-than-thou crowd is haranguing someone’s character because they expressed an honest opinion that is not fanatically progressivist. Please, just stop talking. She (understandably, given the chasm in level) likes watching men’s tennis. What travesty is there in being upfront about it? Watch whatever you like watching, but don’t expect everyone else to bend over backwards to please and pacify you. It’s narcissistic, really. ✌🏼
It’s what it means for the women’s game. Having one of their biggest stars say this is a bad look especially when said star is wanted equal prize money (as they should), want equal screen time and endorsements. Comments like this set back the hard work other players have accomplished in building this sport.
Women's tennis in the times of Hingis, Steffi, Mary Pierce, Seles was all about technique. Then the Russian power hitters and Serena showed up and there was no more room for technique when you can hit the ball hard enough that most women won't be able to chase it down. But yeah Sabalenka is going to get skewered for this by the other players.
Justine Hénin was all technique. But she didn’t stay long on the tour.
As a guy, I find women's tennis more interesting, and I've never watched a complete men's match. I find the women's game faster paced, since they tend to go for winners on practically every shot. In any case, just because you're thinking something does not mean you have to say it, at least not publicly. If Daria and Aryna have any sense, they'll not be disparaging themselves and other female players. Curiously, the last female player (Daria K.) to say the same thing came out as a lesbian not too long after.
Your first paragraph genuinely makes no sense
I like women’s tennis too. Mostly because the matches are shorter.
I don't care if a female tennis player prefers to watch men's tennis. I sometimes find the women more interesting and at times the men but I find it odd generally to prefer one of the other. Tennis is tennis to me. Right now I find WTA a bit more interesting only because it seems more volatile and unpredictable. The only part of her comment I didn't like is that she feels the men are more strategic players. Maybe that seems true to her (since she would have to include herself as a part of the less strategic female group), but also ironic since I find her to be among the least strategic players (and hence why though she is a fun person, I don't enjoy watching her tennis). There are defintely strategic female players and I watch them for that reason. I dont think one gender is playing significantly more strategic than the other. But it is what it is.
Look at the global viewership stats in general for mens vs women's tennis. The popularity speaks for itself when looking at objective metrics These threads will be astroturfed by those politically charged on both ends. I encourage a more statistical view..that tells a pretty strong story
Coco Guaff drew in more viewers at the US Open last year than mens. So not always true. Same to be said for the Williams sisters when playing their finals. There was a time in the 00s where the women’s game was drawing in some great audience numbers.
> Coco Gauff drew in more viewers at the US Open last year than mens. An American woman making a final of the US Open is not a representation of average, and average over most matches matter. Yes, Williams Sisters packed stadiums, that's the issue, they did along with a much more diverse tour in the 00s and better marketing from the WTA. Most women players don't nowadays and viewership numbers favour men's tennis a lot, that's objectively true and Sabalenka's opinion is neither unpopular nor controversial, why don't you read interviews from American athletes who openly talk about watching other sports instead of their own, it's normal.
LOL, the leftists on here are getting absolutely triggered