Equal Pay But Not Equal Play: Tennisâs LongestâRunning Inequality
by Roger Garland
This is a follow-up article to the one I wrote over two years ago, regarding the unequal situation that exists in Professional Tennis. To review, regular professional tennis tournaments have a best of three set format. However, there are four major tournaments played each year which have a best of five set format, but only for the men. The women are only required to play the best-of-three set format, the same format as the junior competitors (13 to 18 year olds). The menâs matches are much longer and much more demanding. One of these matches, âThe U.S. Openâ is being played now: https://www.usopen.org. The others are âWimbledon, âThe French Openâ, and âThe Australian Openâ. Although the womenâs matches are abbreviated and certainly not as demanding, both men and women receive equal prize money. This is obviously unequal and unfair. Women should have to play the same five-set format to be crowned Champion and receive equal prize money.
For more than a century, professional tennis has operated with a double standard so blatant itâs astonishing that the sportâs leadership, media, and players continue to ignore it. In regular tournaments, men and women play the same bestâofâthree format. But in the four Grand Slam tournaments â the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, the French Open, and the Australian Open â only the men are required to play bestâofâfive sets. Women still play bestâofâthree, the same format used for junior competitors.
Yet both receive equal prize money.
This is not equality. It is not fairness. It is not defensible. It is a centuryâold imbalance that tennis authorities refuse to confront.
The Reality: Shorter Matches, Lower Demands, Equal Pay
Womenâs Grand Slam matches typically last one to two hours. Menâs matches routinely last three to five hours. The physical demand, endurance, strategic depth, and comeback potential are simply not comparable.
In the womenâs format, a player who wins two sets ends the match immediately. There is no requirement to win a third set, and therefore no true comeback scenario. In contrast, men must win three sets â a fundamentally different competitive standard.
If equal pay is the principle, then equal play must be the requirement.
A Century of Silence
This unequal structure has existed for more than 100 years. Tennis commentators wonât touch it. Sports journalists wonât discuss it. And the governing bodies of womenâs tennis have chosen silence over accountability.
The Womenâs Tennis Association (WTA), which governs womenâs professional tennis, has never demanded that women play the same fiveâset format in Grand Slams. They advocate for equal prize money â but not equal match requirements.
That is not equality. That is selective equality.
Billie Jean Kingâs Legacy â And the Missing Piece
In 1972, Billie Jean King led the fight for equal prize money. That achievement deserves recognition. But for more than fifty years, she has not fought for women to play the same fiveâset format that defines Grand Slam competition.
When asked about the discrepancy, she has suggested that both men and women should play bestâofâthree. But the fiveâset format is precisely what makes Grand Slams the ultimate test of endurance and excellence. Only men are required to meet that standard.
If equality is the goal, why stop halfway?
The Questions Tennis Leadership Refuses to Answer
Both Billie Jean King and the WTA maintain public contact portals. Since they refuse to address this issue, itâs time for the public to ask the questions they avoid:
- If you preach equality, why remain silent on this obvious disparity?
- Why are women still playing the junior format in the sportâs most important events?
- How can a player be considered a Grand Slam Champion when competing in an abbreviated format?
- Why should equal prize money be awarded when the match requirements are not equal?
These are not hostile questions. They are necessary questions.
Contact the Organizations That Can Change This
If tennis leadership will not address this inequality on their own, then public pressure must force the conversation.
Billie Jean King â Contact Page:https://www.billiejeanking.com/contact
Womenâs Tennis Association (WTA) â Contact Portal:https://www.wtatennis.com/about/contact-us
Let them know that âequal payâ without âequal playâ is not equality â it is favoritism disguised as fairness.
The Bottom Line
Grand Slam tournaments demand the highest level of endurance, strategy, and physical resilience. Only men are required to meet that standard. Women are not. Yet both receive equal prize money.
If tennis wants equality, then it must embrace the full definition â not a selective version that avoids uncomfortable truths.
Equal pay requires equal play. Anything less is not equality.
NCFM Member Roger Garland – Equal Pay But Not Equal Play: Tennisâs LongestâRunning Inequality
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Tags: #tennis world, #tennisplayer, Billie Jean King, Equal Pay Not Equal Play, Farâright AfD, Five Sets For Equality, Grand Slam Gender Disparity, Grand Slam Gender Gap, Sports Fairness Advocacy, Sports Fairness Debate, tennis, tennis fairness debate, Tennis Format Inequality, Tennis Match Format Inequality, Three Sets vs Five Sets, WTA accountability
Right now, there is **no UNâlevel policy of targeted intervention for men and boys**. People often point to the International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB), but they are not conducting meaningful lobbying or coordinated action. Only a handful of countries have any organized menâs rights advocacy at all.
We need a **New York Declaration for Boys and Men** introduced and sponsored for a vote at the United Nations.
NCFMâs website still shows a 2009 photo of a coâparenting protest. That history matters â but todayâs challenges require a coordinated, international push. It is time for NCFM to reach out to every known menâs rights advocate worldwide and urge them to take three concrete steps:
1. **Write to their countryâs Permanent Representative at the UN** requesting support for a UN declaration addressing the needs of boys and men.
2. **Write to the UN SecretaryâGeneral** urging publication of comprehensive, genderâdisaggregated data for all global development indicators.
3. **Join NCFM and aligned organizations in a peaceful demonstration** at the UN Headquarters in New York to highlight the absence of maleâfocused policy.
This is not optional anymore â it is a global need. Men and boys deserve representation, data, and policy attention equal to any other group.
Would you oppose such an initiative?
AR, why would we oppose such an initiative? The ICMB is supposedly doing such things. You are on solid ground with good ideas. Please feel free to write the letters that you suggest INCLUDING the proper addresses and names of each of all of those to whom you want a letter sent. Send copies to ncfm@NCFM.org. Once we receive those we can discuss this further. We re wrote your comment without changing any of the meaning.