“I have a lot of respect for (fill in name of your choice); BUT…”

That’s the sentence that precedes a hatchet job. Always. No-one ever says they have respect for someone before praising them. Its not really necessary, the respect is implicit in the praise. But when someone starts by proclaiming ‘respect’ for; Donald Trump, George Osborne, Steve McLaren, Martin Dimichelis, you know its gonna get nasty.

Yesterday Serena Williams stated her ‘respect’ for Novak Djokovich… BUT…

She may as well have just called him a c**t. Its just more media friendly.

The world of tennis is in an uproar. Sexism is the new drug abuse in the professional circuit. And the drug abuse is only just starting itself.

In 2007, after decades of campaigning (it was actually decades of ‘complaining’ but again, we skirt round the issues with clever wordage), women were granted equal pay for winning tournaments as men. And its worth pointing out that the men’s money was not reduced in any way to kind of ‘subsidise’ their fairer colleagues, the women were just given more. And in case you’re concerned, we’re not talking about an extra £1.32p an hour here; we’re talking hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars/whatever.

To put this in perspective; in my entire tennis career, my total winning profit is 1 bottle of champagne for the bi-weekly round robin doubles at my little club. (If a woman had won it she’d have received a Babycham and a new iron. I’m not stating that my club is some bastion of post-feminism).

Some geezer stated that the women’s game ‘rides on the shirt-tails’ of the men’s game and the women should be eternally grateful to the men, without whom nobody would ever turn up or watch the game. So he said.

Which is patently not true. As long as long-limbed blondes turn up wearing very little there will ALWAYS be a place in this sports fan’s life for such voyeurism. Sorry, such appreciation, devotion, love of the sport, blah, blah blah. I’ve rallied for years to make them wear wet t-shirts but the Tennis Association don’t take it seriously.

Anyway… Novak the miserable Serb immediately took up the baton and agreed that men should earn more because they are the ones who draw the crowds. Why he became involved in this is another question totally. Firstly if women were paid less, he would not earn any more. Secondly, he’s stinking fucking rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams anyway, so its not ‘about the money’ itself.

Therefore its a matter of principle. Serbian principle. Because I think it safe to say that nobody at the top end of professional tennis is hungry or homeless. And they argue that ‘men play a longer game’ and ‘its more exciting’ and all sorts of irrelevance. No-one has to ‘clock on’ to Centre Court. The seats all sell out every day. And if you give women the chance to play, you pay them the same. End of. Its the way of the world. Other than in Serbia, obviously, and in Indian Wells, California, where this all started.

I have a lot of respect for Novak, but he’s a Neanderthal tosser.

Happy Tuesday

A xxxx