Latest Madrid Open sexism storm as Ons Jabeur states that WTA players 'deserve better' and are still treated different to men

Tuesday, 30 April 2024 at 02:17

The Madrid Open at least from a WTA angle continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons with Ons Jabeur for instance who has endured real success in the city openly berating the way that female players have been treated in both this tournament and the Rome Open.

Feliciano Lopez came under increased scrutiny last year amid Cakegate, controversial scheduling choices and this year after Ellen Perez came out and said that female players on the doubles side were made to train away from Madrid and only given minimal slots despite having to go out of their way to train elsewhere. Jabeur said that a lot more is still needed for an even playing field.

"I feel like definitely tennis is one of the sports that I'm proud to play in as a woman," Jabeur started but this soon turned into her attentions going towards the issues surrounding female players at Madrid.

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She continued: "I feel like we have a long way, especially here in Madrid and in Rome, in Europe in general. I feel like they need to respect women more and they need to respect how we are playing. Some things we feel it, and yeah, in maybe like a lot of things in practices, the way they treat women here and men, they're completely different. Maybe people from outside, they don't see it.

"Yeah, I'm definitely one of the people that I want to speak up. I really enjoy watching woman's tennis, enjoy watching woman's sports in general. I think we deserve better. It's not like we are not doing any effort and we are asking for more what we deserve, for sure."

Ons Jabeur has the best winning percentage of any player in Madrid but still feels change is needed.

"I think women's tennis has come a long way. Very grateful for Billie Jean King and all the other women that fought hard, Serena, Maria, all of them. They're trying to represent, you know, very well the sport. I think a lot of women players needs to be aware of it and aware what's really happening," she added.

"Sometimes I don't really think that it's just a question of money, but also respect, because sometimes I just, you know, and I say it again and I told you so many times that people would judge women's tennis without even watching one match. That p***s me off a lot.

"For me, you cannot judge a basketball match, women's match, because it's just a woman playing. I feel like we are sometimes programmed. You know, you open, Okay, let's watch football. What kind of football? Is it man football? Is it women football?"

"Even us, I grew up just opening the TV, like Okay, let's go watch football, Ronaldo, this, this, and that. First, we don't have the opportunity to watch a lot of women's sports in general, which it's changing right now, but I think we are 2024, we need more than that. I want to open the TV and not just see Women's World Cup. Men's World Cup, can I call it Men's World Cup, as well? These things, it's small details that makes the difference."

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Carole Bouchard 💜💛

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« We deserve better », says Jabeur about how female players are treated « in Madrid and Rome ». 👀 She says they’re still treated way differently than the men.

11:29 AM · Apr 29, 2024

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