"I'm not sure they're asking Rafael Nadal when he was finally going to marry his girlfriend or when he is going to have kids" - Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta recently called out the double standard surrounding interview questions directed at male and female tennis players. Konta claimed that ATP stars such as Rafael Nadal were never probed about their personal matters.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, the Brit didn't hold back while expressing her displeasure at the apparent inconsistency in tennis media. Konta believes that queries regarding marriage and kids are reserved solely for female players, especially as they turn older.
"I'm not sure they’re asking Rafael Nadal when he was finally going to marry his girlfriend before he did, or when he is going to have kids," Konta said. "As a woman, you start getting to a certain age, hitting certain milestones, and then it is straightaway assumed – 'Okay, well, when’s the baby coming?'"
For the record, Rafael Nadal married his long-term girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello in October 2019. The couple, who dated for more than a decade before tying the knot, do not have any kids yet.
Brilliantly said by @JohannaKonta on the line of questioning from "middle aged men" in press rooms.
"I’m not sure they’re asking Rafa Nadal when he is going to have kids.”
Brilliantly written @molly_mcelwee
telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022/01…
Johanna Konta conceded that questions about marriage and kids are not intended to cause any discomfort. But she went on to stress that it would be preferable if journalists focussed more on issues pertaining to a player's game and career.
"I don’t think it's done with any harm," Konta said. "But it would be nice to talk about my career and things like that – like my male counterparts in the sport."
"Having kids is a very personal decision and I think it can be a bit insensitive to ask about it" - Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta asserted that the decision to have kids or not is a very personal matter. The Brit finds questions on such topics "insensitive" to people whose physical ailments prevent them from having children as well as people who simply don't want kids.
Konta further claimed that just because it was the norm for women to have kids in the past, the same ideas shouldn't be pushed on to them in this day and age - where things are "a bit different".
"One, it’s a very personal decision and, you know, I think it can be a bit insensitive, especially for people who maybe don’t want to [have children] or have other difficulties," Konta said. "There’s this massive assumption that this is the way it’s done, but since women were unleashed on the workforce the order of things is a bit different."
Konta attributed the prevalence of such questions to the way in which tennis journalism is structured. According to the 30-year-old, as long as most of the media is made up of "middle-aged men", female players would continue to be subjected to these kinds of unfortunate questions.
"I think it was unfortunate [that I was asked such questions], but I was not alone in that," Konta said. "And while our tennis press is mainly made up of middle-aged men, I think the questions are going to be catered so."
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