World number one Serena Williams ripped “offensive” remarks by Indian Wells tournament director Raymond Moore, who claimed women s tennis was riding on the coattails of the men s game.
“If I was a lady player, I d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport,” Moore, a 69-year-old former player from South Africa, told reporters as his annual state of the tournament press conference on Sunday morning.
Not surprisingly, 21-time Grand Slam champion Williams was scathing in her response.
“Obviously, I don t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that,” Williams said.
“If I could tell you every day how many people say they don t watch tennis unless they re watching myself or my sister, I couldn t even bring up that number,” Williams said.
Williams said she quickly became aware of Moore s remarks via social media, even though she was busy Sunday morning preparing to meet Victoria Azarenka in the women s final, which the Belarusian won in straight sets
A swift backlash to Moore s comments, which also included remarks on the physical attractiveness of some of the WTA s rising stars, had him issuing an apology even before the men s Masters final between Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic was completed.
“At my morning breakfast with the media, I made comments about the WTA that were in extremely poor taste and erroneous,” Moore said in a statement.
“I am truly sorry for those remarks, and apologize to all the players and WTA as a whole.
“We had a women s final today that reflects the strength of the players, especially Serena and Victoria, and the entire WTA. Again, I am truly sorry for my remarks.”
But Williams said there was no mistaking their meaning.
“You know, there s only one way to interpret that,” she said. “Get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man … we, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn t have to drop to our knees at any point.”