Renowned Tennis Player’s Hot Take on Equal Pay for Athletes Ignites Debates and Controversies in the Tennis World

The world is moving at an admittedly slower-than-desirable pace towards equality. And while nobody expects any miracles or the creation of an overnight utopia, people across the planet, across livelihoods and lifestyles have been fighting for it. The wins are few and they cost a fortune. And every loss adds to the agony but, people still fight. The world of sports is no different. 

Sport, no matter what it might look like, cannot space the prison of reality and the reality is that discrimination exists, be it with race, gender, or sexuality. Take a look at Tennis, one of the highest-paying sports. But even here, there is a massive disparity between what men and women make in this sport. This has been a glaring issue that has persisted for a long time. That is not, however, today’s story. Today’s story revolves around a retired tennis icon who has a rather unique take on the subject. 

Former No.5 finds demand for equal pay “spoiling”

Former no 5, Daniela Hantuchova sat down in an interview with the Livesport Daily podcast. Among other things, a significant topic that came up was equal pay. Interestingly, Hantuchova had a surprising opinion on the same. While commenting on the topic the 40-year-old stated, “It feels a bit like spoiling. Especially on the women’s circuit, where the prize money is what it is, & the girls certainly don’t work from 4 in the morning in a mine somewhere. It’s difficult, but we never allowed ourselves to criticize because we knew the checks we were getting were thanks to the tournament.” 

However, the Slovak star also emphasized the difficulty of traveling and also attributed her retirement to the same concern. She said, “Regarding travel & the destinations in which WTA tournaments are played, on the contrary, I agree with the players. From this point of view, tennis is the most demanding sport that exists. For me personally, it was one of the reasons I quit. The body could no longer handle the time differences. I kept waking up out of the normal rhythm. It was unhealthy. I told myself that it wasn’t even worth the money. I’d rather be well at age 60. It was over the edge.”

Hantuchova’s take came out as quite controversial at a time when the demand for abolishing unequal payment was at its peak. Quite rightly, she grabbed the social media limelight, but in an unfortunate way. 

Daniela Hantuchova criticized heavily for her comments 

Hantuchova’s interview gained a lot of traction as soon as it was published. 

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A Twitter(now rebranded as X) page, The Tennis Letter uploaded her comments where netizens gave their two cents. Most of them were unhappy and others even responded with harsh words for the former tennis star. 

One of the users who commented raised a question regarding an opinion shared by Hantuchova.

While another user shared his personal opinion replying to the previous comment.

Another user commented against her opinion in a sarcastic tone.

While another user wrote in support of Hantuchova.

Do you think Daniela Hantuchova’s perspective is correct? Or do you disagree with her? Let us know in the comments below. 

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