Serena Williams News: Athlete Hits Back At Paribas Open CEO For Sexist Remarks
Tennis superstar Serena Williams slammed BNP Paribas Open tournament director and CEO Raymond Moore's 'very mistaken and very inaccurate' sexist remarks that women should kneel down before their male contemporaries for making tennis a wonderful game.
Simply known as Indian Wells, the event was one of the most prestigious ATP-WTA tennis events outside Grand Slam Tournaments often studded with most of tennis renowned athletes with back-to-back games for men's and women's finals.
"In my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA, because they ride on the coattails of the men. They don't make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have," Moore said as quoted by New York Times.
The statement did not go too well for female players who equally contributed to making tennis great. Williams blasted his erroneous statements for causing disservice to not just female tennis legends like Billie Jean King but also to "every woman on this planet that has ever tried to stand up for what they believed in and being proud to be a woman."
"We as women have come a long way. And we shouldn't have to drop to our knees at any point," refuted Williams as mentioned in a report by ABC News.
Even former Indian Wells' tournament director and current WTA CEO Steve Simon said that Moore's irresponsible statements as 'extremely disappointing and alarming'.
"As the tournament director of one of the most preeminent events in professional tennis the comments made today by Raymond Moore were extremely disappointing and alarming...Tennis as a whole is enriched by the contributions and accomplishments of every single player both female and male," Simon said as mentioned by CNN.
