"No woman should have to worry" - Venus Williams recalls her fight for equal pay coming to fruition at Wimbledon in 2007
Venus Williams recently spoke about her fight for equal pay for women in tennis and the pay parity debate coming a long way. She was the first woman to receive the same prize money as her male counterpart at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
The 43-year-old faced Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the opening round of Wimbledon 2023. The five-time Wimbledon champion walked onto the court with a rousing welcome from the crowd and started strong.
However, she slipped on the grass in the first set and screamed in pain, prompting her trainer to rush to her aid. Williams lost her rhythm to lose the match, 4-6, 3-6.
In a post-match press conference, the interviewer made a reference to an unnamed young player who knew about the fight against pay parity but now took being paid the same as men for granted.
When asked about her thoughts on the subject, the former World No. 1 expressed her elation at equal pay becoming a norm at Wimbledon.
"I don't think any woman should have to worry about if they're getting paid equal. I'm very happy that no woman again at a Grand Slam has to even concern herself with that. She can just play tennis," she said.
This was Venus Williams's first Grand Slam appearance this year after pulling out of both Australian Open and French Open due to injury.
When Venus Willams spearheaded the campaign for equal prize money at Wimbledon 2007
While equal prize money for men and women in Grand Slams is a norm today, there was a time in the late 1960s when women in tennis were paid significantly less than their male counterparts.
In 1973, US Open became the first Grand Slam to announce equal pay for both men and women champions, thanks to the tireless efforts of the WTA led by Billie Jean King. It took almost three decades before the Australian Open came on board with equal prize money in 2001.
Although Wimbledon and French Open narrowed the payment gap quite a lot, with Wimbledon awarding the men’s singles winner with £630,000 and the women’s with £600,000 in 2005, they still held out for equal pay.
In 2006, Venus Williams led the WTA campaign along with UNESCO to promote gender equality in sports. With persuasion and some pressure, their efforts finally bore fruit when in February 2007, when Wimbledon announced it would offer equal prize money for the first time since 1968.
“The greatest tournament in the world has reached an even greater height today,” Williams said after Wimbledon’s announcement. “I applaud today’s decision, which recognizes the value of women’s tennis.”
The French Open followed suit within a month of Wimbledon's announcement of equal pay.