Murray Decries Discrepancy Between Women’s Best Of Three Vs. Men’s Best Of Five

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 9th September 2013

Murray Decries Discrepancy Between Women’s Best Of Three Vs. Men’s Best Of Five

epa03852760 Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts as he plays Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland during their quarterfinals round match on the eleventh day of the 2013 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 05 September 2013. The US Open runs through Monday 09 September, a 15-day schedule for the first time. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

Andy Murray remains slightly doubtful of the actual work required to win many women’s matches at the US Open and any other grand slam event, with the Scot querying the fairness of equal prize money. For Murray, a defending champion in New York who lost in the quarter-finals to Swiss Stan Wawrinka, the differences between the men’s and women’s competitions are huge.

His solution – seeing that prize money will never be reduced – is for the women to play best-of-five. “I don’t see why they couldn’t do it. It would mean the days in the slams are a little bit longer. And maybe it doesn’t have to be from the first rounds.

“I think either the men go three sets or the women go five sets. I think that’s more what the guys tend to complain about, rather than the equal prize money itself.”

Winners of the titles at this edition will each earn $2.6 million. Murray says that from his viewpoint, women are playing a completely different game from the men. “They’re two different sports. It’s not like at the 100 meters at the Olympics, not because they’re not running the same speed as the men. It’s just because we play five sets.

“I’m not saying the men work harder than the women, but if you have to train to play five sets, it’s a longer distance. It’s like someone training to be a 400m runner and someone training to be a 600m runner.

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, US Open