Aryna Sabalenka demands ‘equal pay’ for female tennis players after receiving half in prize money than Jannik Sinner at Cincinnati Open

This huge difference in the prize money for men and women players once again sparked the debate about equal pay in tennis and Sabalenka was quick to share her opinion on this. The 26-year-old demanded equal pay for female tennis players claiming that they deserved it.

From the TV point of view, from the ticket selling, from every point of view, it’s unfair. Of course, guys are always going to be physically stronger than women but it doesn’t mean we’re not working as hard as they do. Women deserve to be paid an equal amount of money that men do. Aryna Sabalenka said while demanding equal pay during an interview with The Guardian.

Notably, Sabalenka won $524,730 in prize money after winning the title in Cincinnati while Jannik Sinner was presented with $1,049,460 in prize money for winning the same tournament.

Aryna Sabalenka wants consistency from ‘big names’ of women’s tennis

After talking about equal pay, Aryna Sabalenka also talked about what can be done to make women’s tennis “cool”. The Belarusian said that the big names on the tour including herself, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Coco Gauff need to be consistent in reaching the last stages of tournaments in order to make women’s tennis better.

As Sabalenka defeated Swiatek in straight sets in the semifinal of the Cincinnati Open, she was thrilled. But not just because she won. Sabalenka was happy about the fact that the two top players on the tour faced each other in the last stages of the tournament and said that she would like it to happen more often.

Beating Iga in two sets was crazy and something I’m really happy about. I think it’s something we are working really hard on, to make sure we face each other in the last stages of every tournament – that we keep going with this rivalry between the two of us...I think that’s something cool for women’s tennis, to have several big names always reaching the last stages of the tournament; to see this consistency. Aryna Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka and Swiatek are enjoying a good rivalry so far, having faced each other 12 times. Although the Polish tennis ace enjoys an upper hand (with 8 wins), Sabalenka has had a few wins here and there. But apart from wins and losses, the good thing, as Sabalenka stated, is that they have faced each other in the last stage of the tournaments. Out of 12, Swiatek and Sabalenka have faced each other before quarterfinals only once.