If women were truly equal

Stay with me; I'm an equalist.

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For those of you who don't know, I like tennis; in particular, playing tennis. Sometimes I even like watching tennis, but, what I don't like is watching Women's Tennis. Now, before you start blurting out words such as 'Sexist' or 'Misogynist' or 'woman-hater', the reason is because I can't stand listening to all the screeching that goes on from the top woman players. I can understand that you sometimes need to grunt/screech on a particularly hard (or poorly hit) shot but when it's done on a drop shot or slice, you have to question whether it's not just gamesmanship. Thankfully Sharapova, one of the biggest troublemakers, has been banned for two years. Unfortunately it wasn't for screeching like a harpy but I am sure the ITF is working on that (one would hope).

I also read an article recently which went on to outline the virtues of Andy Murray's forward-thinking views on Women's tennis getting equal pay / respect. While I agree on the respect part, I'm not so sure that woman should get equal pay. In all of the opens, women only have to play the best of three sets whereas men have to play five. If they were truly equal, shouldn't there just be a 'tennis open' rather than holding 'sexist competitions' for each gender? I wonder how long it would take for the female players to complain about it being unfair when they're having to compete against the likes of Djokovic or Murray? As was proven, a 200+ ranked man beat the Williams sisters who were top seeds. Make of it what you will. But, of course, that doesn't mean a woman cannot beat a man. I've been beaten many times by women and, as the previous link shows, retired male pro players can be beaten ... maybe that puts a sleight on the win but all I know is I would be beaten by all of them.

In the end, if I don my objectivity hat, it should just come down to numbers. In the end, both the ATP and the WTA are run as a business where profits and earnings matter. So, the correct answer to whether WTA players should earn as much as the ATP should come down to comparing WTA revenues to those of the ATP. Simply put: if the WTA earns more then they should earn more or vice-versa. Now that would be fair, wouldn't it?

Pushing your limits

I watched the Australian Open Men's Final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and it was everything a final should be: A test of will, a test of skill, a test of focus and a test of human limits. In the end the match took almost six hours and each second was hard-fought (outside of change of ends).

No, they are not bowing to the head of Kia Motors

Having seen the match that Nadal played against Tomas Berdych leading to the match with Federer, I would have said that he was the man to beat in this tournament. I don't think I've seen anyone hit the ball that hard, that consistently and that much on the line. Nadal has finally learned how to hit a ball (that isn't looped) ... but I digress.

In comparison to Nadal's run, I think Djokovic had it a bit easier with less pressure leading to the final - it could have made the difference. When it comes to 5+ hours of running and pounding shots into the corners, having that little extra in the tank might have made the difference when it came to the final set - Nadal had finally run out of steam.

The final set was a sea of breaks and break-backs, with Djokovic getting the final break from a 30-15 scoreline. Serving for the match, he had pressure on his serve with a 30-40 break-point, but was able to fight back to win the next three points. Djokovic was the champion although both deserved the prize.

The most humorous / telling moment was the point where both players had to wait for the sea of back-patting antics to sponsors to conclude while their legs spasmed uncontrollably. I must admit I found it funny, but couldn't help admiring them. Considering just a few short minutes earlier they were running full-steam and looking close-to unstoppable, it was amazing to see the pain they were in. It is a testament to all those that saw it that this is a moment you should appreciate - they didn't save anything for the swim back and neither should we.

As an aside, the Women's was apparently between two screeching harpies - I don't know who won, but the only thing I'm sure of is that Women's tennis lost. As always, humour is the best medicine for something that irks ... or a shotgun. Also, I created a facebook page - feel free to lend your support here.