Keeping Tennis in Balance

My exhaustive research, dating back to 40,000 B.C., reveals that (stunningly) men and women have been playing together for a long time (a fact, I suppose, for which we should all be thankful). But in the world of sports, it’s a rare day that the genders mix. Tennis may be the only haven. So when talking about gender equality, gender balance and financial equity, tennis is best positioned to be the forerunner. Yet, challenges persist.

Two recent events have fanned the flames of equity, fairness and balance.

Event 1: last month’s stunning comments by Ray Moore, former Executive Director of the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California. Said Moore, according to multiple reports: “I think the WTA -- you know, in my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA [Women’s Tennis Association], because they ride on the coattails of the men. . . .They don’t make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.”

Event 2: last week’s legal filing by five members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, charging the U.S. Soccer Federation with wage discrimination, asserting that they’re vastly underpaid, compared with their male counterparts.

Moore is suffering, no doubt, from amnesia, forgetting entirely the enormous contributions made by Billie Jean King (who made tennis national news) and players like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Venus and Serena Williams. And the U.S. Soccer Federation, no doubt, is just suffering, having waited far too long to rectify the situation. After all, it’s the women’s national team that has helped move soccer (at long last) to center stage.

Tennis, soccer and golf are unique in that men and women compete worldwide in the same sport. But tennis stands alone in that women and men join forces throughout the year, not just at the major tournaments but on the court as well (i.e., in mixed doubles). And while gender equity is not among its most vulnerable flaws (thanks to Venus, the majors now deliver equal checks to women and men*), there are other challenges.

The central challenge is for all parties to develop a more holistic view of how their sport works, and what drives popularity over the long haul. The central issue, of course, is balance, and tennis faces three: 1. Balance between the genders; 2. Balance among the players (the elite vs. those ranked 100+); and 3. Balance between the players, their associations and tournament directors. It’s a natural ebb and flow, but when one particular piece gets out of balance (e.g., ensuring that players ranked 101-200 can make a living, ensuring that balance is maintained between player needs/rights and those running the show), it’s critical to pause, gather the troops and reexamine how best to move the sport forward, in order to breed, and maintain, long-term success.

The solution? Convene an annual Tennis Summit where players (elite, journeymen and newcomers) gather with tournament directors and representatives of the ATP and WTA. The Summit, each year, would examine the issue of balance (there’s that word again) – between woman and man, between high and low ranking athletes, between tournament directors (large and small) and players.

Maintaining balance in our personal lives is challenging enough. Imagine trying to do it with millions of dollars at stake, and hundreds of interested parties.

* The same cannot be said, of course, for other sports or the world at large. Witness these statistics, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics: in 2009, only 24% of the country’s CEOs were women; in 2010, American women on average earned 81% of what their male counterparts earned; up from 62% in 1979, but still! And here’s my favorite: it’s been less than 100 years that women in the United States have been able to vote. That one boggles my mind!

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