Rafael Nadal touched upon the pay gap in tennis in a recent interview, laying out what he believes should be the model.
The Spanish player generally doesn't speak much on these topics, but he'll respond to a question if asked. Years ago, the Spaniard saw himself heavily criticized after making some remarks on the topic that many people didn't like.
He pointed out how women earn more in modeling than men simply because they are in higher demand. Many interpreted that as a stance that he doesn't support pay equality, which isn't true.
He actually has a pretty interesting take on the whole matter, and it has nothing to do with gender but rather economics. Speaking to La Sexta, Nadal explained his stance.
"What is unfair is that there is no equal opportunity. If you ask me if I am a feminist, if a feminist means saying that they deserve the same opportunities, yes I am."
"I don't want me to earn more than Serena Williams because I am Rafa Nadal. I want women to earn more than men if they generate more than men."
It's an argument by Nadal that ties together to his point about modeling. Female models generate more and earn more, and the 22-time Grand Slam champion argues that women should earn the same if they generate the same, and alternatively, earn more if they generate more.
If there comes a time when female tennis generates more than male tennis, then he'd support it. After all, many would argue that the WTA storylines are often more interesting than the ATP ones.
Currently, there seems to be just a lack of proper marketing on that side of the sport. That's where the efforts should go, making women's tennis more appealing to the average consumer.
"The prizes, in tennis, are practically the same. Why? Because there was the opportunity for women's tennis to be liked by the world. Women's tennis is liked by the world, they earn a lot of money. If the women world champions are popular, they fill the stadiums... The more they win, the better."
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