Azarenka says scheduling for women ‘unacceptable’
Simona Halep (Romania) beat Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
Next up for Cori Gauff on Monday here will be former world No 1 Simona Halep, who sealed her placed in the fourth round with a straightforward 6-3 6-1 victory over two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka.
Halep, 27, seeded seven, won her first grand slam last year when she beat Sloane Stephens to win the French Open. Her best performance at Wimbledon was to reach the semi-finals in 2014, where she lost to Eugenie Bouchard after suffering an ankle injury.
The Romanian, who won her only grand slam after three losing appearances in a final, afterwards disagreed with Azarenka, who lambasted the “unacceptable” scheduling of women’s tennis compared to its male counterpart.
The issue intensified at the French Open last month when Johanna Konta and Marketa Vondrousova were shunted to the equivalent of Court No2 for their semi-final.
“Yeah, I mean, [the inequality] is very obvious,” Azarenka said. “It’s not only the French Open. I think grand slams have been more equal in terms of scheduling, which is not the case obviously at this year’s French Open, which was unacceptable.
“And the rest of the scheduling, there is a
big inequality in that, the time slots. It has to be fixed. Azarenka, who told The Daily Telegraph before the tournament that she was campaigning for tennis mothers to be given paid maternity leave, said: “Women should be getting the same scheduling, time slots. That’s one of the main issues where we are going to try to fight for this equality. We have been fighting for equality and prize money. This is the next step, for sure.”
One of the arguments used to justify men being given the more attractive slots on the biggest courts is that
players such as Roger Federer pull in bigger audiences. Azarenka suggested a vicious cycle has developed, with women lacking exposure to become as recognisable as men.
“Give the same opportunity, and then let’s talk about facts,” she said.
But Halep suggested the lack of a credible successor to Serena Williams – including herself and Azarenka – has created a situation where a number of players need to be rotated around the main courts.
Asked if there needed to be more equality with the men’s game, Halep said: “No, because many players deserve to play on main courts. If I was No1 a few months ago, that doesn’t mean that I have to play on Centre Court every time. Now I’m No 6, it’s normal to play on Court No 2.”