Italian Open must offer women equal pay – says Jabeur

Women players should not have to wait to receive the same prize money as their male counterparts at the Italian Open said World number seven Ons Jabeur.

Tennis has been trying to be a leader in the battle for equality in the last decades by providing equal prize money to men and women at the four Grand Slams.

Yet WTA Tour events still offer less prize money than those on the separate men’s circuit. In the Rome tournament, the total “financial commitment” for the men is $9.51 million while for women competitors it is $3.5 million.

The chief of Italian tennis federation, Angelo Binaghi, said last month that the tournament had started a process that would lead to equal prize money in three years, however, Tunisian Jabeur called for immediate change.

“I don’t see why we have to wait,” Jabeur told the New York Times. “It’s really frustrating. It’s time for change. It’s time for the tournament to do better.”

Spain’s Paula Badosa said she did not see why there was prize money inequality in Rome, in a tournament that attracts some of the world’s top names.

“I don’t know why it’s not equal right now,” Badosa said. “They don’t inform us. They say this is what you get and you have to play.”