Andy Murray
expressed his agreement with equal prize money in tennis but emphasized that
for this to happen, the
ATP and the WTA must “work as one”.
The former
world No. 1 is set to play in the ATP 500
DC Open this week, where he enters as
the 15th seed and receives a bye in the first round. Ahead of his campaign in
the tournament, Murray shared his thoughts on the issue of equal prize money
between the WTA and the ATP.
The
36-year-old athlete stated that when men and women compete in the same
tournaments and on the same courts, they should be rewarded with the same prize
money.
“I’m
totally behind equal prize money. I always felt like when we're competing at
the same event on the same courts, we should be playing for the same prize money.
But I think for it ever to become truly equal, the WTA and the ATP are actually
going to work as one”.
During his
participation in the 2023
Wimbledon, Murray also made a call for there to be
more female coaches in the ATP tour, especially in the WTA tour. The British
tennis star emphasized the importance of increasing the representation of
female coaches in the sport
"It's
strange, I'm probably surprised there's not more female coaches across both
(men's and women's) Tours," Murray told reporters at Wimbledon.
"I
don't even know that it would be a handful of female coaches across both tours,
which is not enough."
The British
tennis player had two female coaches during his career, first with his mother
Judy Murray at the beginning, and then in 2015, alongside former world No. 1
Amelie Mauresmo.
In the
second round of the Washington Open, he awaits the winner of the match between
Brandon Nakashima and the recent Atlanta Open finalist, Aleksander Vukic.
Should he advance, there is the possibility of facing the first seed, Taylor
Fritz, if the local player performs well in his debut.
