Williams, Murray support equal pay for women’s tennis players

Serena Williams and Andy Murray came out in support of equal pay for men’s and women’s tennis players on Tuesday.

Get breaking news and SI’s biggest stories instantly. Download the new Sports Illustrated app (iOS or Android) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers.

Serena Williams and Andy Murray came out in support of equal pay for men’s and women’s tennis players on Tuesday.

The comments came in response to Novak Djokovic’s claim that male players deserve more than females.

“I have been playing since the age of two and it would be shocking to say my son would deserve more than my daughter,” Williams said, according to The Guardian. “It is irrelevant. Novak is entitled to his opinion but if he has a daughter — I think he has a son right now — he should talk to her and tell her how his son deserves more money because he is a boy.

“If I have a daughter who plays tennis and also have a son that plays tennis, I wouldn’t say that my son deserves more because he is a man. If they both started at three years old I would say they both deserve the same amount of money.”

Djokovic’s comments came after Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore told reporters that male players have carried the sport of tennis. Moore stepped down on Tuesday.

Murray added support for women’s players:

“One of the things Novak said was that if women are selling more seats and tickets they should make more but at a tournament like this, for example, if Serena is playing on centre court and you have a men’s match with Stakhovsky playing, people are coming to watch Serena.

“The crowds are coming to watch the women as well. The whole thing just doesn’t stack up – it changes on a day-to‑day basis depending on the matches you get.

Indian Wells hosted the BNP Paribas Open, where Victoria Azarenka beat Serena Williams in the women’s final on Sunday.

– Kenny Ducey