“We are not in competition with each other, as many people think” insisted Billie Jean King this Friday, at the microphone of the well-known journalist Christiane Amanpour. The former champion was invited alongsideAndy Murray around a conversation about the merger between ATP and WTA, recently mentioned by Roger Federer sure Twitter. In a video conference broadcast by the channel CNN, King and Murray both defended the project, and returned to the importance of such a change and the obstacles encountered.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made their 1st Live Insta!
Murray: “Some players are dissatisfied because the winnings are equal”
“When discussions arise, I think it is important not to consider them only from a male point of view. It is important to include more women in decision-making bodies, so that everyone’s voices can When the best players in the world start talking about it, it’s definitely promising. “ commented Murray, before mentioning, without naming them, some of his colleagues who do not share this opinion. “I spoke to some players on the circuit who were dissatisfied because the tournament winnings were equal. I asked them ‘so you would prefer there was no increase [pour les gains des tournois WTA]? ‘and they said,’ Actually, yes. ‘ It is with this type of mentality that we must work around such discussions. ” Indeed, some players, like Nick Kyrgios, shared their disagreement following the tweet from Federer.
King: “When the best players speak, people listen”
“When the best players in the world speak, people listen … I had a chance to speak with Roger and he said the reason he thought about it was because he finally had time to think about sport. ” commented in turn Billie Jean King, which has been defending the idea of a merger for several decades already. “What tennis people need to understand is that we have to get along because we are much stronger if we are together, in terms of sponsors and opportunities. We are not in competition with each other, as many people think “Our task is to come together, so that we can be competitive against other sports. The WTA would not represent an acquisition, but a partner in our quest to make our sport better.” she said. Thus, the project seems to be gaining more and more importance, but much work remains to be done.
Roger Federer has raised the idea of merging men’s and women’s tennis. @ Andy_murray: “It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” @BillieJeanKing: “When top male players bring it up, people listen… We’re much stronger… if we’re together.” pic.twitter.com/ZXjHYe9usd
– Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) May 1, 2020
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