• Tennis news

Bartoli bites back in equal pay row

ESPN staff
June 27, 2012
Marion Bartoli: 'Over the year, we are a long way from earning as much as the men' © Getty Images
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Marion Bartoli has hit back at Gilles Simon's claim that the policy of pay equality at grand slam tournaments is unfair.

France's Simon, who has been seeded 13th at Wimbledon this year, irked Bartoli when he said: "The male players spent twice as long on court at Roland Garros [the venue for the French Open] as the women.

"The equality in salaries isn't something that works in sport. Men's tennis remains more attractive than women's tennis at the moment."

But Bartoli, who is also French, believes that the disparity in male and female earnings for most of the year justifies the level playing field at grand slams.

"Over the year, we are a long way from earning as much as the men," Bartoli said in L'Equipe. "It [pay equality] is unique to the grand slams and certain tournaments.

"We put in as much as they do. The physical demands, the training and the investment in ourselves are the same as theirs."

Simon was recently elected to the ATP's players' council, the body which speaks to governing organisations on behalf of the tour players.

Wimbledon began to offer equal prize money in 2007 after the move was unanimously supported by the championship committee.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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