Women’s Right Advocate Billie Jean King Vehemently Slams WTA Players as ‘Extremely Disappointing’ Dearth in Female Coaches Highlights a Sad Reality

The issue of gender equality in tennis is one for the ages. However, over the years, major names have come ahead to fight against the cause and make tennis a place where men and women are equally treated. One among them is the legend Billie Jean King herself. The former American player has been one of the most influential people in tennis and has stood whenever it comes to fighting for the rights of women in tennis.

In a recent interview, Billie Jean King came ahead and shared her opinion on another problem that the tennis world currently surrounds with. She shed light on the number of female coaches in tennis and how it could affect the upcoming generation.

Billie Jean King shares concerns about the number of female coaches in tennis

Billie Jean King recently shared her disappointment in the gender disparity among coaches in the WTA Tour. In an interview with the Associated Press this summer, King pointed out that women coaches are fewer than ten percent of the top 150 singles and 50 doubles players in the Tour.

King emphasized the importance of the principle, “You have to see it to be it,” underlining the lack of female coaches which then leads her to say that upcoming players would not view coaching as a suitable option.

“Terrible. Extremely disappointing. You have to see it to be it,” said Billie Jean King. “So if you don’t see a woman up there [as] a coach, it doesn’t even cross your brain. How we do get the top players to hire them? We’ve got to solve the problem.”

Thus, King shared her opinion on the number of female coaches in tennis. She has asked the authorities to find a solution for the same which would help them increase the number and make the number even as compared to the number of male coaches in tennis. However, this is not the first time that this issue has been raised.

Also read: Opinion: 50 Years Into a Fight Spear-Headed by Billie Jean King and Serena Williams, Will the WTA Ever Be Able to Achieve Equal Pay Across Events?

Andy Murray shares his opinion on the number of female coaches in tennis

Billie Jean King is not the only one who thinks that the issue of fewer female tennis coaches needs to be resolved. Andy Murray, one of the greatest players that the game has ever seen recently came ahead and shared his opinion on the same.

In the interview, he reflected that the lesser number of female coaches in tennis is not a good sign for the game. He later expressed his shock when he got to know that even the WTA does not have enough number of female coaches. This, according to him is something that needs to be changed.

Thus, the issue of gender equality is one for the ages in the game. While the concept of equal prize money has made significant progress in the game, there are still some issues like the issue of few female coaches in the game that still needs to be resolved.

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