In March this year, former CEO of the Indian Wells tournament, Raymond Moore, made a ridiculous statement that cost him his job. He said women tennis players "ride on the coat-tails of the men." Even as Moore’s remark caused a furore in the tennis world, men’s number one Novak Djokovic contributed to that conversation by saying that that prize money should vary among men and women depending on "who attracts more attention, spectators and who sells more tickets". The implications were clear. Female players should get paid less than male players.
This week, the BBC has come under attack for gender bias in its tennis coverage. Research shows that during last year’s Wimbledon, the BBC dedicated 76 % of its coverage in the first week to men’s matches. On one specific day, 93% of coverage was devoted to men’s matches. In response to the charge of disproportionate coverage, the BBC’s lead executive Ron Chakraborty pointed out that men’s tennis was far more popular with viewers because of star names and intense rivalries. He said the women’s game lacked "box office pull" and was dominated by Serena Williams.
That comment is particularly interesting in the light of what’s been happening in tennis lately. While on the men’s side, one player has won the last four Grand Slams, on the women’s side, the last four majors have been split among four different women. If I had to pay my last dollars to attend either championship match this year, there’s no doubt I would pick the women’s final. Because, truly, no one knows who’s going to win that one.
If fans need a narrative to get attached to, they don’t have to look much further than Serena Williams. What might have seemed predictable a year ago, when Williams was gunning for the calendar Grand Slam, suddenly now seems like an almost insurmountable hurdle. Will she somehow manage to overthrow the psychological pressure and equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 majors in the Open Era? Or will she stumble once again near the end, against a lower-ranked opponent?
The final hurdle
In the course of the last three slams, Williams has become almost endearingly vulnerable. Despite entering each of those tournaments as a favorite, she has failed to cross the final hurdle. The result has been four brand new first-time champions – Flavia Pennetta of Italy in New York last September, followed by Angelique Kerber of Germany in Melbourne this January, and finally Garbine Muguruza of Spain in Paris a few weeks ago. Each of these victories was an unexpected fairy tale. There’s nothing more romantic in sport than a Cinderella story, or an underdog overcoming the odds. And that’s what women’s tennis, unlike men’s, has been able to provide for us in the past year.
Once again, this fortnight, the world will watch Williams closely to see if she can win her 22nd major. There is no plausible reason why she shouldn’t. Despite her recent losses, Serena goes into Wimbledon as a firm favorite. Her experience on grass, her power, and most of all her desire to equal Graf’s record, are all well-known and oft-cited. Surely, she is not going to leave the game without achieving this feat. The possibility seems almost absurd. Surely it’s a question of when, and where, this victory will come. Unless the defending champion has another inexplicably bad day, it should be on July 9 this year.
However, like Roger Federer, Willliams too is 34 years old. There are a lot of miles – and a lot of wins – on that body. With younger, stronger players on the rise all around her, the pressure to keep winning must sometimes become difficult to bear. She has shown definite signs of nerves in the past few months. Even great champions can be vulnerable. And no one knows that better than the other women in the locker room who must believe that they too now have a shot. What Pennetta, Kerber, and Muguruza have effectively done is chip away at the mythic status of Serena Williams. Suddenly, she has become human. Suddenly, anyone can win Wimbledon.
The challengers
The biggest challenger has got to be the new French Open champ. Muguruza played a great match against Serena in last year’s final. But this year, she has even more confidence and belief. She knows what it takes to defeat Serena on the biggest stages in the world. She is ready to take over as the next great player. A rematch between the two top-ranked women would not only be a dream final, but might also make Ron Chakraborty of the BBC rethink his position on rivalries in the women’s game.
The depth in women’s tennis has become evident over the last few months. It is, of course, somewhat easier for a top-ranked player to lose a three-set match than a five-set one. Upsets from the early rounds have become de rigueur. Apart from the two people mentioned above, other serious contenders for the title are two-time former champion Petra Kvitova and Australian open champ Kerber. But what makes women’s tennis so captivating right now is that there are many others who could cause an upset, advance to the latter rounds, or even reach the final. And once there, all bets are off these days. Will it be Sam Stosur’s experience, Madison Keys’ power, Sabine Lisicki’s serve-and-volley game, or Agnieszka Radwanska’s guile? Fifth seed Simona Halep and five-time champion Venus Williams could go far as well.
Britain’s Heather Watson summed it up neatly when she told The Daily Mail, “In the men’s game there are three, four, five dominant players who pretty much win everything but in the women’s, anyone can.”
It is highly likely that, on the final Saturday, either we will witness someone finally overcome nerves, expectations, and age, to claim a remarkable 22nd Grand Slam singles title, and thereby establish herself as perhaps the best women’s tennis player of all time, or we will share the joy of a new champion as she lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish for the very first time. Either way, it will be a momentous occasion. The following day, perhaps, the men will not mind so much if they have to ride on the coat-tails of the women.
Oindrila Mukherjee tweets here.