‘Equality is not about giving’: Nadal gives his position on investment in women’s tennis

Rafael Nadal (646th ATP) The recovery from the injury suffered on his return to the circuit continues. Taking advantage of his time off the slopes, he gave a long interview to the show “El Objective” on the Spanish channel “La Sexta”, where he spoke about various topics, his signing as tennis ambassador in Saudi Arabia, through the rivalry with Novak Djokovic (1st) And Roger Federer to feminism, which sparked on several occasions with Ana Pastor, the host of the show.

First of all, he was consulted on decision to join Saudi Arabia as an ambassador of tennis in this country , which earned him endless criticism from the sports world. “I didn’t need it. This is not an economic question. What do they pay me? Yes but I I didn’t sign a great contract economically. My contract with them is to promote tennis. “I don’t think Saudi Arabia needs me to clean up its image, that’s not my goal.” Even if he was self-critical in the way his arrival in the Asian country was announced. “I think we made a mistake in communicating it, there was another option to announce it.”

“I have the opportunity to take my sport to a place where it was completely closed 6 or 7 years ago. In Saudi there is no sports culture and for me it is a challenge to try it with the freedom that I will have in theory. If in a few years I feel that this objective is not being accomplished, I will say that I made a mistake. » he added.

The controversy arose when the host introduced feminism into the conversation. “It’s a personal feeling. “You seem uncomfortable talking about feminism” . To which Nadal replied: “Not at all, What I am not is a hypocrite. “I’m not going to say easy things and I don’t think so.”

He then spoke about the difference in investment between men’s and women’s tennis. “Investment in women’s sport should be the same as in men’s sport, but not in salaries. So that? What is unfair is that there is no equality, a man and a woman deserve the same opportunities.

He once again uses the term feminism to confront the host. “If you ask me if I’m a feminist, tell me what it means to be a feminist. If you tell me that being a feminist means that a man and a woman have the same opportunities, I’m a feminist.

“But the term feminism is taken to the extreme. Equality is not about giving up. The tie is that if Serena Williams generates more than me, she will have to earn more than me, “I don’t want to win more than Serena to be Rafa Nadal.” he added.

He closed the subject by assuring that “I want women to generate more than men.” (…) at the time, women’s tennis was widely followed and that’s why equality came sooner. The other day I saw the ranking of the highest paid athletes and there were a lot of tennis players.

As for the Serb, he assured that in some respects the treatment he receives from the supporters is unfair. “The image he conveys is worse than it really is. “He’s a good person, with his mistakes, but much better than he seems.”

He then highlighted Nole’s mental strength. “Novak’s frustration lasts until he breaks his racket, then he is 100% ready to compete again. This is why he is the one who has accomplished the most things in the history of our sport. The numbers say it’s the best in history. For me, it’s” he said.

Regarding Federer, he had nothing but praise for him. “My relationship with Roger is very good. The word friends is strong, I have my friends for life. But Roger was a great teammate. He is a very familiar person.

He closed the interview by praising his compatriot, Carlos Alcaraz. “He has no weaknesses for his age. He has a large repertoire. He’s a very good boy and he has things very clear. He has great ambition and at his age I never set these goals for myself, they are totally different mentalities, he has all the conditions to achieve a great career.