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SPORTSThursday 24 March 2016
Serena, Djokovic a son who plays tennis, I
wouldn’t say that my son
Continued from Page 17 deserves more money be-
cause he’s a man,” she
Serena Williams stands with tournament director Raymond “If I was a lady player, I’d more money because their said. “I would say they de-
Moore after Victoria Azarenka, defeated Williams in a final at go down every night on matches tend to attract serve the same amount of
the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 20, my knees and thank God more spectators. money.
2016, in Indian Wells, Calif. Azarenka won 6-4, 6-4. that Roger Federer and “I think that our men’s ten- “I think (Djokovic) is entitled
Rafa Nadal were born, nis world, ATP world, should to his opinion,” she added.
because they have car- fight for more, because the “But if he has a daughter
ried this sport,” he added. stats are showing that we — I think he has a son right
Moore later apologized, have much more specta- now — I think he should
but stepped down 24 hours tors on the men’s tennis talk to his daughter and tell
later. matches,” Djokovic said her his son deserves more
Players, both men and earlier this week. “I think money than you because
women, quickly de- that’s one of the reasons he’s a boy.”
nounced the comments why maybe we should get Andy Murray, ranked No.
and that continued Tues- awarded more.” 2 in the world, believes in
day at the Miami Open. Williams disagreed when equal pay.
But there was also concern asked about the com- “I think there should be
raised about comments ments. equal pay, 100 percent,
Djokovic made suggest- “If I have a daughter and especially at all combined
ing the men should seek she plays tennis, and I have events,” Murray said. “The
timing of it was just so
strange. It was right before
you had a great women’s
final with like 16,000 people
sitting in the stadium.
He also noted that inter-
est and attendance differs
depending on the match-
es, saying a Williams match
in Miami will pack a stadi-
um more than many men’s
matches.
“Men’s tennis has been
lucky over the last 10 years
because of the quality
of players,” he said. “But
the whole of tennis should
capitalize on that and not
just the men’s game, in my
opinion.”
WTA chief executive officer
Steve Simon, who came to
the WTA last fall after being
the tournament director
of the BNP Paribas Open,
released a statement re-
lated to Moore’s departure
on Tuesday.
“Raymond Moore has tak-
en full responsibility for the
unacceptable comments
he has made,” Simon
said. “It is the right decision
for him to step down. 
