Serena Williams: I literally have said just put me on the second court

23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, of the United States, says she has often asked tennis tournament organizers to replace her matches on Centre Court stadiums with matches of other women so that other women players can have an opportunity to play on the Centre Courts as well. Several top women have often complained about the fact that the show courts at major combined events often feature more men's matches than women's matches.

Serena Williams on asking organizers to replace her matches on Centre Court with other players' matches

Serena Williams was talking to actress Natalie Portman on an Instagram Live show and spoke about the inequalities in the scheduling of men's and women's matches on the showcourts as well as within women's tennis as well. "That's something we have to fight for still in tennis. I'll look at the schedule and there's four men's matches and then two women's matches and then I feel bad, because I'm always one of those women. I literally have said just put me on the second court, so we can have other players have an opportunity on centre court. Obviously that doesn't go well in the timings, and they're like, 'No, no, no. You need be on centre court,' and I'm like, 'These other women need a chance and they deserve it, they've been working literally their whole lives to have this opportunity. Every year I come back to the same tournaments and I come back with the same arguments. They expect me, so when are we going to make those changes?"

Serena Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and a former World No. 1. She is currently ranked in the Top 10 in the world and has been a champion for equal rights for many years now. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 Grand Slam titles put her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles and she is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/39H4UM1