Wimbledon controversy! The sexist court scheduling and the Management’s justifications! Read on to know the details!

• Top seed and World number one German tennis player Angelique Kerber played a sensational match with 2015 finalist and Spanish opponent Garbine Muguruza

Wimbledon’s sexist scheduling controversy!

Angelique Kerber delivered a match that deserved a wider audience. But unfortunately, she played on the smaller No. 2 court. Angelique lost the thrilling match to Garbine by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The whole contest was spectacular and nail-biting. It was an unrelenting match between two focused and energetic players who were trying to exploit each other’s uncertain serves. Kerber was the favorite at the match and her endless running and resolve enthralled one and all.

But the contest could not be enjoyed by many due to the smaller court on which it was played. Muguruza also praised Angelique’s efforts and said:

“I know I won it, but it was a good match for both of us. Every match I play against Kerber is like that. I remember two years ago when we played here, was a quite similar match. I’m happy that it went my way, of course, after fighting there for two hours.”

Talking about the improper scheduling, Angelique Kerber said:

“To be honest, I was really surprised that I was playing on No 2 Court. I think we both played a good match which was at a very high level. And I was actually really looking forward to playing on one of the two big courts.”

She added:

“I mean, what can I say? This is the schedule and it is not my decision at the end of the day. It is a decision made my others. At the end I have to take the court I get scheduled on. But of course I was surprised.”

There are 44 courts at Wimbledon. The center court and court one at Wimbledon were being used mainly for men’s singles. Besides, it has been noted that no male top seed had played outside the center court or court one this century.

Comments from other players!

British tennis player and The World no. 1 Andy Murray also felt that the scheduling at Wimbledon court was in favor of the male players.

Andy Murray said:

“I don’t think anyone’s suggesting [the scheduling] is fair. I’m not suggesting that it is. We need to find a way of allowing for an equal split of the men’s and women’s matches across the tournament rather than just looking at one day.”

Andy Murray has won over French Benoit Paire on the Center Court. He further added:

“If there’s better matches on the women’s side than the men’s side, you can flip it. If there’s better matches on the men’s side, then that has to go first, as well.”

Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko who defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on smaller court no. 12 was also surprised to have played an interesting match in front of a crowd of just 1000.

She said:

“I think I deserve to play on a better court than No 12 Court,” 

She continued:

“Elina is the World No 4 so I think our match was a very interesting match for people to watch. I don’t like when I play and nobody’s watching the match, or only a very few people. It’s not fun. So I thought we would play on a bigger court.”

Danish Caroline Wozniacki who got defeated at the hands of American player Coco Vandeweghe on court no. 3 said:

“This is something that we have talked about at Wimbledon for the last 10 years. It’s been the same for 10 years straight,”

She felt that the other three Grand Slams tournaments were better positioned as regards the men’s and women’s matches.

What does Wimbledon management have to say?

Wimbledon Chief Richard Lewis, however, disagreed with all the comments and grievances. He said:

“I would not say it was favouritism, I would say it is taking the marquee matches. It is not about male or female, in the end it is about which matches you feel the public and broadcasters most want to see.”

When Andy Murray suggested having four instead of the present 3 matches per day on the show courts, Lewis said that this would require the crowd to come early which would not be feasible for them. Explaining his point, Lewis said:

“We view these things from time to time. It doesn’t work for us. Whether it will work in the future at any stage I’m not sure. The start time of 1 pm, already you see fans struggling to get into Court One and Centre and that’s not just corporate hospitality.”

He further added:

“People travel from long and large distances and they want to use off-peak fares.”

Wimbledon has been time and again embroiled in sexism controversies and hopes that it could make efforts to rise above these!