The Word 'Greedy' Carries a Price

By LISA DILLMAN

June 28, 1999 12 AM PT

WIMBLEDON, England —

For one day, Tim Henman stepped out of character and made the British tabloid headline writers smile . . . and not just about the state of his tennis.

If nothing else, the battle of the sexes always intrigues the tabs. And Henman unwittingly provided the ammunition when he used the word greedy when he was asked about the equal-pay dispute.

The U.S. Open is the only one of four Grand Slam events offering equal prize money to the men and women. Wimbledon still maintains the biggest discrepancy. Henman offered his opinion, saying the women should first work on lifting the level of prize money for their tour events throughout the year.

Jim Courier defended him, as did Lindsay Davenport, to some extent. John McEnroe recently wrote a column in the New York Times in support of equal pay for the women, and legend Billie Jean King did the same last week in a British newspaper.

On HBO, she dismissed the three-set vs. five-set argument, saying: “But, remember, entertainers don’t get paid on how long they entertain. Some men say, ‘We got a lot more on our tour.’ Well, we’re not together at those times. When we’re together, we’re talking about apples to apples.”

Said Courier: “I just want to point out that everything he [Henman] said is true, that the discrepancy between women’s prize money on their normal tour events and Grand Slam prize money is, I think, 5 to 1.

“And I think our tour average prize money goes 2 to 1. So I think that’s their real problem. They should be concentrating on getting their tour purses up. . . . Tim’s been taking a beating and he said the right thing. He said the wrong word, ‘greedy.’ Other than that, everything he said was fact. . . . Our tour makes more money than theirs does.”

Davenport did not think the gap should be closed in the span of one year, realizing the tradition-laden tournament is hardly pressed to do almost anything quickly.

“It was very disappointing the way Wimbledon did it,” she said. “Obviously you can’t go it 100% in one year. . . . But to raise the women and the men the same was a little bit disappointing. We maybe deserve a little bit more of an increase than the men did.

“I think he [Henman] was pretty right on. I believe in equal prize money but on top of that, I believe our tour prize needs to go up. Playing for five years, I think our Tier II’s [mid-sized events] have gone up, I don’t know exact percentage, but hardly at all. To me that is more important.

“I think Tim might have got taken out of context a bit. I don’t think he meant women shouldn’t get equal prize money. He meant we need to focus on our own tour. I’m 100% behind that. I think the level of our tour percentage going up has been very bad. But, by the same token, to only go up the same as the men was a joke.”

Davenport said the signing of a petition by a large number of players asking for equal pay last spring did not necessarily carry the threat of a boycott.

“It was never a question we were going to boycott. And all of a sudden that came out,” she said. “To Bart [McGuire, WTA chief executive officer] and our workers of the WTA, we said we really think we deserve this. We want you guys to go in and fight for us. They did.

“On the other hand, the players [realize] this is England. This isn’t the United States. If you watch the highlights, all they showed was men’s tennis and the women got about a 30-second recap. I don’t think they’re down on women’s tennis, but it’s just the way that it goes.”

A high-ranking Wimbledon official was quoted saying that if they gave the women equal prize money that they would have to cut back on the flowers around the grounds. The British sense of humor did not come across to Davenport. “Whoever said something about the petunias . . . he needs to be fired,” she said. “That was awful.”

HE’S HUMAN

Far from Wimbledon, Marcelo Rios of Chile had a tough week. At a routine Davis Cup news conference, the normally remote Rios stunned the assembled Chilean press corps by breaking down in tears. It had nothing to do with his recent back problems or his tennis.

He was trying to win back his girlfriend, Juliana Sotela. The Chilean magazine, “Cosas,” ran a picture of Rios dancing with another woman in Paris shortly after his loss to Dominik Hrbaty at the French Open. Sotela promptly ended the relationship.

Rios spoke of his sincerity, asking for help from his parents and her parents. For the first time, the Chilean media observed a different side of Rios and praised him for his openness.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Featured Matches

MEN

* Pete Sampras (1) vs. Daniel Nestor, Canada

* Boris Becker, Germany, vs. Patrick Rafter (2), Australia

* Wayne Arthurs, Australia, vs. Andre Agassi (4)

* Jim Courier vs. Tim Henman (6), Britain

* Greg Rusedski (9), Britain, vs. Mark Philippoussis (7) Australia

* Todd Martin (8) vs. Goran Ivanisevic (10), Croatia

* Lorenzo Manta, Switzerland, vs. Gustavo Kuerten (11), Brazil

* Cedric Pioline, France, vs. Karol Kucera (13), Slovakia

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