Tournament director Feliciano Lopez said the Madrid Open will “try to be fair to everyone” after Ons Jabeur urged event organizers “to respect women more”.
After her fourth-round victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the Spanish capital, two-time Wimbledon finalist Jabeur criticized the tournament for “favoring the men” and lamented the lack of coverage of the women’s matches.
The tournament was hit by early controversy after Australian doubles player Ellen Perez revealed on social media that women’s doubles players were not allowed to practice on the venue’s courts between 9am and 5pm. Instead, they were allocated off-site training grounds.
Lopez admitted mistakes were made by organizers last year, but the former world number 12 said Jabeur’s comments were “unfair”.
Jabeur attacks lack of respect for players at Madrid Open
Jabeur, who reached the second ranking of his career in 2022, said: “I feel like we have a long way to go, especially here in Madrid and Rome, in Europe in general. I have the I feel like they need to respect women more and they need to respect the way we play. Some of the things that we feel, and yes, maybe in a lot of things in practice, the way they treat women here and the. men, they are completely different. Maybe people from the outside do not see it.
“Yeah, I’m definitely one of the people I want to talk about. I really like watching women’s tennis, I like watching women’s sports in general. I think we deserve better. It’s not like we don’t no effort and we are asking for more of what we deserve, that’s for sure.”
“I think women’s tennis has come a long way. I’m very grateful to Billie Jean King and all the other women who fought hard, Serena (Williams), Maria (Sharapova), all of them. They’re trying to represent, you know, very well sport I think a lot of players need to be aware of that and aware of what’s really going on,” she continued.
“There is still much to be done when it comes to respecting female athletes in tennis and other sports.”
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Jabeur saw his participation in the tournament end at the hands of Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
Talk to Sky Sports TennisLopez defended the Madrid Open while responding to Jabeur’s comments, saying: “I think we did some things last year that shouldn’t have happened, but we learned from our mistakes. But I have to to say that we were the best.” first tournament that paid the same prize money to women and men and so I don’t think it’s fair that some people think we don’t treat men and women the same.
“We do a great job in this area but I understand the frustration on some things because there are a lot of things that can happen during a tournament like transportation and training sessions, but we try to be equal and fair everything time so I think we have to move forward and try to be fair to everyone.”
Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia were blocked from giving speeches on court after last year’s women’s doubles final in Madrid.
Lopez also spoke about the 2023 women’s doubles final in which Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff to win the title, but, breaking with tradition, organizers canceled their speeches on the field, which has been the subject of much criticism.
“Last year, I have to accept that regarding the doubles finals issue, we apologize and move on,” Lopez said.
“We have meetings with WTA players and ATP players who are always ready to help and I think that’s the most important thing. There are a lot of things we can still do in the future .
“It’s hard to say no to people you know. They feel like they can ask a lot of things because of our relationship and sometimes it’s a challenge for me to say no. I have to accept that that is part of my job.
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