Former Grand Slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov has voiced his opinion that women should not receive the same prize money as men in tennis.
Kafelnikov stated, “I support all of our female players and try to watch their matches. However, I don’t specifically seek out first, second, or third round matches – except in rare instances. Do women deserve equal pay? No, of course not.”
He elaborated, “You don’t have to look far for an example: consider last year’s Roland Garros, the fourth-round match between Iga Swiatek and our own Anastasia Potapova. There was a 200,000 euro prize money difference at stake. Unfortunately, Anastasia won only nine games in two sets. Do you understand? And the match lasted 40 minutes. Compare that to men, who play for four to five hours for the same money. Where is the fairness?”
