"I don't think it's fair to say that we don't treat men and women equally" Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez responds to Ons Jabeur's criticism about the treatment of female players 🎾
Madrid Open Tournament Director Feliciano Lopez issues response amid sexism allegations from Ons Jabeur
WTAWednesday, 01 May 2024 at 23:15
After Ons Jabeur claimed that the Madrid Open favoured men and needed to respect women more, tournament director Feliciano Lopez replied giving a critical retort while also admitting that lessons needed to be learned from last year's problems.
Last year saw ball girls were skimpy outfits until they were altered, Cakegate and the doubles final storm where the women's players were silenced after Victoria Azarenka's viewpoint on Cakegate. As a result, Lopez came under increased fire and is fielding similar questions this year.
“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," said Jabeur initially.
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Quizzed about this, Lopez said that lessons were learned from last year's issues and that he doesn't think it is fair to have that tact. "I think we did a few things last year that shouldn't have happened. We learn from our mistakes, but I have to say we were the first tournament that paid the same prize money to women and men. I don't think that it's fair to say that we don't treat men and women equally. We're doing a great job in that matter.
"I understand the frustration on certain things as there are a lot of things that can happen during a tournament with transportation with practice sessions. But we try to be equal, we try to be fair. We have to move on and try to be fair to everyone."
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