Recent discussions involving the terms ‘Serena Williams‘ and ‘prize money’ generally revolve around the record-holding Grand Slam champ’s comments that female tennis players should really earn the same as their male counterparts.
ICYMI, after her Wimbledon semi-final victory against Elena Visnina, the (nearly) peerless American athlete said “I don’t deserve to be paid less because of my sex.” That’s hardly the first time she’s championed that common sense viewpoint, either.
However, after her emphatic
7-5, 6-3 victory over
Angelique Kerber in the final, the pay packet headed Williams’ way will be less than expected. It’s not ’cause of some dodgy meritocratic logic, though: rather,
the ongoing impact of the EU referendum has effectively pilfered her cash.
The prize money for winning the women’s singles tournament (it’s the same for the men at Wimbledon too, FYI) is a cool £2 million. Of course, when the Brexit vote rolled around a mere four days before the most fabled of English tournaments kicked off, it utterly tanked the nation’s currency.
The Independent pointed out if Brexit never happened, Williams would have likely
cashed about
US $2.96M. In real life, after the nation decided to kick off from their continental neighbours, she’s walking away with
$2.59M – a loss of around
$380K, in
the space of three weeks.
Making matters worse is the fact this year’s prize payout actually increased over last year’s – but that difference has been wiped out, and more, by the economic ramifications of the Leave vote.
We’re sure Serena Williams is already at the stage in her career where she has a budget dedicated to rubber bands for her fat stacks, but damn.
After ensuring female athletes are consistently compensated at the same rates as men, perhaps ensuring geopolitical befuddlings don’t pinch from prize winnings should be next on the agenda.
Source: The Independent / The Telegraph.
Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty.
