Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
June 22, 2001, Washington Post

Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish

They did it again.

Every year the folks who run Wimbledon -- the most famous tennis tournament in the world -- announce that they are going to give the female players less prize money than the men.

This year the winner in the men's division will get 500,000 British pounds (about $710,000) and the winner in the women's division will get 462,500 pounds (about $656,750).

That's a difference of more than $50,000! And why should the best female player get less than the best male player?

It's true that in professional sports men usually earn more money than women. That is because there is more money to go around. A lot more people buy tickets to see men play basketball than they do to see the women play.

But Wimbledon fans don't buy separate tickets to the men's and women's matches. The fans pay their money and walk through the gate for all the matches. No one knows for sure whether the fans are coming to see the men, the women or both.

Sure, the men may play best-of-five sets and the women best-of-three, but for my money I think the women's tennis at Wimbledon is much better than the men's.

You see, Wimbledon is one of the last tennis tournaments that is played on grass. A tennis ball moves faster on grass than on any other surface.

Men players are so strong that they can knock the fuzz right off a tennis ball. The men hit it so hard that most of the points in the men's matches at Wimbledon are decided with just a few swings of the racket.

Not very exciting.

The women players do not hit the ball quite as hard. So they battle longer and harder for points. It's more exciting because there is more action and more fantastic shots to see.

And Wimbledon has plenty of exciting women's players to watch:

Martina Hingis. She's still No. 1 in the world.

The wondrous Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.

And the current comeback kid of tennis, Jennifer Capriati. Capriati has won the women's titles at the Australian and French Opens after years of being almost forgotten. She is the biggest story in tennis.

So the women at Wimbledon have it all: longer battles for points, thrilling matches and plenty of extraordinary players.

They should win the same amount of prize money as the men. No, wait. Change that. Maybe the women should make more money than the men.

FRED BOWEN is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with "The Score" in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company