Women deserve higher pay in professional tennis.

The women in pro-tennis deserve higher pay than men, and we say that to state the obvious.

The women’s tour is more competitive and, therefore deserves a higher pay.

The ladies’ tour is more competitive, exciting, eventful, and unpredictable, and has more variety in playing styles. The women’s slam winners, over the last ten years, have included players with two-handed forehands, women in their 30s and teens, ball-bashers, moonballers, a doubles experts, and even a cricket professional. The WTA has it all and some more. 

The ATP tournaments and men’s slams are predictable.

Men’s tennis, on the other hand, is centered around the three, 32+, geezers who have dominated for over 15 years. The veterans cannot be displaced, either because of the lack of talent or will. The outcome in the men’s event, therefore, is predictable and boring.

The Geezers rule men’s tennis.

The Geezers rule in men’s tennis. The young guns, marketed shamelessly by the ATP as the NextGen, lack the talent and will to topple them. Practically all, except the Maestro and perhaps two others, play the same old baseline brand of tennis. The winner in every match is the player that outlasts the other from the baseline. A tour that cannot step up to end the dominance of the 32+ years old doesn’t deserve higher pay. 

The ruling veterans may deserve as much, if not more, money than the ladies, but not the others. 

If men’s tennis is the new golf, then the women deserve a higher pay.

Unless tennis is the new golf, this is a crying shame. The predictable inability of the 20+ to end the domination of a few veterans is deplorable and boring. The lack of competition at the very top in men’s tennis is why the women tennis players should receive more.

It’s not just one, three veterans rule at the very top in men’s tennis!

A highly talented player, with a kick-ass game, ruling the roost at an advanced age might be palatable. There are, however, three geriatrics that continue to dominate, and two of those are retrievers and grinders. Shouldn’t those grinders, with over a million miles on their knees, retire and get their knees replaced now? They, instead, continue to patrol the baseline and produce amazing shots after 20-shot rallies.

What would be the more intelligent solution to promote competition at the very top in men’s tennis?

The homogeneity, represented by the slow speed, of the surfaces, is the main reason for the dominance by the veterans. The ATP and the Slams, therefore, must make the surfaces faster immediately. They must restore the surface speed of the grass and hard courts to the Sampras-Ivanisvic era. The pendulum has swung too far in favor of the retrievers and grinders. The tennis authorities, to restore balance, must make the hard courts fast, and the grass hard faster.  

Another solution to rejuvenate men’s tennis.

The ATP and ITF could mandate the use of 80 sq. inch wooden rackets if they wish to continue with the slow surfaces. The smaller wooden rackets would allow the all-court game and tennis skills to flourish. In tennis, we need tennis-skills to beat athleticism and the grind, or the NextGen will continue to wait for the Geezers to fade away and, thereby, extend their stay at the top. The Big Three in the ATP, it seems, will dominate for many more years and the case for higher pay for the women will continue to hold merit.