2021 US Open champion and rising British star Emma Raducanu was criticized for her comments on the Australian Open scheduling ahead of her round 1 match against Mananchaya Sawangkaew on Sunday. The Brit was scheduled to play the last game at the Margaret Court arena on day 1 of the Grand Slam, which she felt ‘made no sense.’
“It’s very difficult to be scheduling women’s matches after a potential 5-set match. To me, it really doesn’t make much sense, but I think, after seeing it, the initial reaction is, Oh, it’s going to be a late one. Then you deal with it, and you try and shift your day and adjust,” said Raducanu in the pre-game press conference.
“You would love to have more time in the environment, more time practising. But I guess I was pretty much handed the schedule to try and turn it around and make the most out of what is in front of me,” she added.
While Raducanu received a mixed bag of reactions for her comments, Spanish tennis insider Jose Moron condemned the young Brit’s ill-timed comments. “Raducanu’s thing at this press conference is catastrophic. For her, “it makes no sense” to schedule a women’s match at night after a men’s one, because “it ends very late,” wrote Moron on social media.
“In other words, they can finish at midnight. Women: “it makes no sense.” Starting from the fact that they play best of 3 and not best of 5 with the same benefits, I see a pretty ugly gesture toward male tennis players. Next up is her getting to choose when it’s best for her to play,” he further added.
The Tennis Insider Further Clarified His Stance Towards Emma Raducanu’s Comments
Moron shared yet another post on social media on Monday, clarifying his stance towards Raducanu’s comments and how he personally perceived them as a tennis insider. “I’ve understood Raducanu’s point, and it’s logical to think that it’s better for the men to start at 21 than for the women to at 22 or 23, but this isn’t just about when it starts, but about when it ends,” wrote Moron.
“The complaints come because the one with the last slot goes to bed that day at 2-3 in the morning, after post-match, massage, press, eating, hotel, etc. Nobody wants the last slot. Neither they nor the women. When she says she doesn’t like it, that’s why. So, if we want equal prize money and equal treatment, we have to alternate…” he added.
“One thing is to suggest that you prefer to play during the day, which makes sense, and another is to say that “it makes no sense” for them to put the women in the last slot and that the men always get stuck with it… This issue of women’s match schedules is always going to spark a ton of debate. In the end, they just have to understand that it’s never going to rain to everyone’s taste and that they are tremendously privileged,” he concluded.
While the scheduling issue could linger, the Brit is set to face Anastasia Potapova in the second round on Wednesday.
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