ABSTRACT
On March 20, 2016, Raymond Moore, the CEO of the Indian Wells tournament, stated during a press conference with the media on the morning of the tournament’s women’s final, that the women tennis players were “lucky” and owed a debt of gratitude to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for carrying the sport of tennis and allowing women to ride along. Specifically, Moore said:
In my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA, because they ride on the coattails of the men.… They don’t make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried the sport. They really have.
(Rosenthal, 2016) The imagery of a woman on her knees was not lost on Serena Williams, a player who many would argue has carried the sport of tennis as much as Federer or Nadal, if not more. Following her loss to Victoria Azarenka in the final at Indian Wells, Williams went on the offensive, stating: “There’s only one way to interpret that. ‘Get on your knees,’ which is offensive enough, and ‘thank a man’? We, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point” (S. Williams, March 20, 2016). Adding evidence to her statement by invoking the 2015 US Open women’s final for which tickets sold out before the men’s final, Williams asserted: “I’m sorry, did Roger play in that final? Or Rafa, or any man, play in that final that was sold out before the men’s final? I think not” (Williams, 2016).