Event director Feliciano Lopez says the Madrid Open will “try to be fair to everyone” after Ons Jabeur urged occasion organisers “to respect women more”.
Following her fourth-round victory over Jelena Ostapenko within the Spanish capital, two-time Wimbledon finalist Jabeur criticised the event for “favouring men” in addition to lamenting the dearth of protection for ladies’s matches.
The event was hit with early controversy after Australian doubles participant Ellen Perez took to social media to disclose that ladies’s doubles gamers weren’t allowed to observe on the on-site courts between 9am and 5pm. As a substitute they had been allotted observe courts off-site.
Lopez admitted errors had been made by organisers final 12 months, however the former world No 12 thought Jabeur’s feedback had been “unfair”.
Jabeur, who achieved a career-high rating of No 2 in 2022, mentioned: “I feel like we have a long way, especially here in Madrid and in Rome, in Europe in general. I feel like they need to respect women more and they need to respect how we are playing. Some things we feel it, and yeah, in maybe like a lot of things in practices, the way they treat women here and men, they’re completely different. Maybe people from outside, they don’t see it.
“Yeah, I am positively one of many those that I need to communicate up. I actually get pleasure from watching ladies’s tennis, get pleasure from watching ladies’s sports activities typically. I feel we deserve higher. It is not like we aren’t doing any effort and we’re asking for extra what we deserve, for certain.”
“I feel ladies’s tennis has come a great distance. Very grateful for Billie Jean King and all the opposite ladies that fought laborious, Serena [Williams], Maria [Sharapova], all of them. They’re attempting to symbolize, , very properly the game. I feel a whole lot of ladies gamers want to concentrate on it and conscious of what is actually taking place,” she continued.
“Much more to be performed when it got here to respecting feminine athletes in tennis and in different sports activities.”
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Jabeur noticed her run on the event come to an finish by the hands of Madison Keys within the quarter-finals
Chatting with Sky Sports activities Tennis, Lopez defended the Madrid Open as he responded to the feedback made by Jabeur, saying: “I think we did a few things last year that shouldn’t have happened but we learnt from our mistakes. But I have to say that we were the first tournament which paid the same prize money to women and men and so I don’t think it’s fair that some people may think that we are not treating men and women equally.
“We’re doing an awesome job in that matter however I perceive the frustration on sure issues as a result of there’s a whole lot of issues that may occur throughout a event reminiscent of transportation and with observe classes, however we attempt to be equal and truthful on a regular basis so I feel now we have to maneuver on and attempt to be truthful to everybody.”
Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia had been silenced from making on-court speeches after final 12 months’s ladies’s doubles remaining in Madrid
Lopez additionally spoke in regards to the ladies’s doubles remaining in 2023 through which Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia beat People Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff to assert the title however in a break from custom organisers cancelled their on-court speeches, which obtained widespread criticism.
“Last year, I have to accept that the issue with the doubles finals, we apologise and we move on,” mentioned Lopez.
“We have meetings with WTA players with ATP players always willing to help and I think that this is the most important thing. There’s a lot of things that we can still do in the future.
“It is troublesome to say no to the those that . They really feel as if they will ask for a lot of issues due to our relationship and generally it is a problem for me to say no. I’ve to simply accept that that is a part of my job.”
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