Aryna Sabalenka questions 'unfair' pay-gap between male and female players after Cincinnati Open win

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula to win the 2024 Cincinnati Open.

Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka has spoken about equal pay for players in different competitions.

She stated that unequal pay for male and female tennis players is unfair. Aryna Sabalenka also affirmed that ATP players are physically stronger but the WTA stars also prepare similarly and give their best for the tournaments.

The Belarusian tennis star said, “From the TV point of view, from the ticket selling, from every point of view, it’s unfair. Of course, guys are always going to be physically stronger than women but it doesn’t mean we’re not working as hard as they do. Women deserve to be paid an equal amount of money that men do.”

Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner won the singles titles at Cincinnati Open 2024. The Italian tennis star won $1,049,460, while Sabalenka got a winning prize of $524,730. Multiple tennis tournaments, especially the Wimbledon Championships, offer equal prize money to the men’s and women’s winners.

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The 26-year-old won the 2024 Australian Open in January. However, she later struggled to reach the quarterfinals of any tournament before the Madrid Open. She ended up as a runner-up at the Madrid Open as well as the Rome Masters, losing to Iga Swiatek in both matches.

At the 2024 French Open, she lost to Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva in three sets in the quarterfinals. During the match, he looked dull as it seemed like she was suffering from an illness. She also did not attend the post-match press conference after the loss and Coco Gauff overtook her in the WTA rankings.

Sabalenka also missed the Wimbledon Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics due to a rare shoulder pain, which she suffered during the Berlin Ladies Open. She won her second title of the season at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, where she defeated Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals and the final, respectively.

In addition to that, she regained the second spot in the WTA rankings after Coco Gauff was eliminated in the second round in Cincinnati.

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