Oh and a drive by rack for Federer and his comments.
Money issue returns; Federer wants one trophy;
June 25, 2006
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Amid fresh complaints that Wimbledon's distribution of prize money is sexist, the tournament defended its policy Sunday, noting the women's quarterfinalists received more per game last year than the men.
The 2005 women's quarterfinalists received $2,635 per game, 44 percent more than the $1,827 per game paid to the men's quarterfinalists, the All England Club said. That's a result, of course, of a difference in the rules -- men play best-of-five-set matches at majors, the women best-of-three.
The All England Club also said it pays women 87 percent as much money as the men, while the WTA Tour's Tier 1 events offer only 63 percent as much as the ATP Tour's Masters Series events.
The men's singles champion at Wimbledon will earn about $1.2 million, the women's singles champion about $1.15 million -- a $50,000 difference -- and there are similar disparities in all rounds of the tournament. The other three Grand Slam tournaments give the men's and women's champions the same prize money; the U.S. Open and Australian Open pay the same money in every round.
"For us, it's not about earning more money or becoming any more well-off; it's really about an equality issue," defending women's champion Venus Williams said Sunday. "At this point it's become really that we represent women around the world. We're the premier sport for women. We would like to empower women around the world by showing that we are willing to fight for equality."
Three-time men's champion Roger Federer said he considers the disparity in prize money insignificant, given how much the winners make.
"I don't think it really makes a lot of difference for us. It's a lot of money," Federer said.
Last week, British lawmaker Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, sent All England Club chairman Tim Phillips a letter urging the club to offer equal prize money.
"I know your position on this, but in my view, it is anomalous that women receive less prize money than men, and this fact is tarnishing the image of the championship," Jowell wrote.
NO TROPHY, THANKS
Roger Federer wants to wait until the end of Wimbledon before accepting any trophies.
With a first-round win Monday, the three-time defending champion would break the record of 41 consecutive grass-court victories he shares with Bjorn Borg. But Federer doesn't expect the sort of postmatch tribute Rafael Nadal received last month at the French Open for his record clay-court winning streak.
"That is not the right thing, to get a trophy for streaks," Federer said. "They did it at the French, which I thought was a little strange. ... I know that this will never happen here in Wimbledon."
Nadal broke Guillermo Vilas' record with his 54th consecutive clay-court victory in the first round at Roland Garros. After the match, Nadal was presented with a rectangular glass box showing the layers of a clay court.
"You get a trophy at the end of a tournament," Federer said, "not after a first-round win."
When asked about matching Borg's record, Federer said, "It's sort of nice. That's about it."
