Washington DC Open Will Offers Equal Status For Women And Men, But Unequal Prize Money

A poster hung at the DC Open venue features Frances Tiafoe – a competitor on the course in nearby Maryland – along with other men like Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz and women like Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

This is a simple visualization of a complex shift from the tournament that began on Monday and has been around for men since 1969, adding women through a concurrent event but with fewer ranks and less promotion.

It ranked higher in 2009 and has now taken a new bragging step. It was the first combined event of the ATP-WTA 500. It is two places below the Grand Slam and one place below the Masters 1000 and was completed by the women’s team being promoted through the site of a previous hard court tournament in San Jose, California, which was held the same week.

While that puts men and women on an equal footing in Washington — where players will be trying to win titles and prepare for the US Open, the last major slam of the year — it’s still not equal on every level.

Includes: The male lead receives a check for $353,445; Women’s Champion earns $120,150. It is not an anomaly.

There are other stops in professional tennis tournaments that involve men’s and women’s tennis players but they don’t pay equally.

Our main goal is fair pricing. That’s what we want from the WTA and what we think is right. Especially in corporate events, we don’t want to see any gap there.

“The fans come to see both of us. And we have to do the same,” said Pegula, an American third seed and top seed in Washington, and a member of the Women’s Sports Touring Council.

All four Grand Slam tournaments have equal prize money, something the US Open started 50 years ago and others in 2007.

That won’t happen at the DC Open until 2027 as part of a larger plan the WTA recently announced to receive equal pay at some events this year and others next year. 2033.

Parity of prize money at the DC Open won’t happen until 2027, and it’s part of a larger plan.

The WTA recently announced equal prize money at several events this year and elsewhere. Another event in 2033.

“It will give people the opportunity to increase their income so they can afford it,” said Mark Ayne, who has been president of the league since 2019 and was part of the team that recently bought the Washington NFL Leaders from Dan Snyder.

“When we take the championship, one of my most important goals is to guarantee an equal event like our men,” Ain said.

“One of the things I love in tennis is that in fact the only sport that athlete playing both sexes plays on the same surface at the same time.”

There are other differences between men and women in Washington. Men’s field 48 players. The heroine has 28. The ranking points are almost the same, but the male champion gets 500, for the female 470. Like Pegula, Murray, the three-time league champion who finished 15th in Washington, said all players.

“In the same event, on the same court” should be competing for the same rewards.

“But I think for it to be really equal, the WTA and the ATP will have to work together before that happens, because I don’t think it’s that simple now because the two tournaments have different challenges, different sponsors, different TV deals and all that.”

“There are a few things that still need to change, but I feel like things are moving in the right direction, like moving into this event to be a 500 for both of them. There is clearly still room for improvement.”