Boris Becker sees no need for tennis to catch up in terms of equal treatment of male and female players, saying the sport he used to play professionally is a role model for others.
But female players at the recent Italian Open in Rome do not agree. They criticized the parallel men's and women's tournaments because prize money for the men was more than double that for the women.
But Becker believes tennis is ahead of other sports.
"If we look at the other sports, we are almost pioneers when it comes to equality. Most major tournaments have equal prize money, and the match schedules are also almost identical," said the 55-year-old Eurosport pundit.
"Basically, tennis is an example of how equality works in sport."
The Italian open pay differences are supposed to be rectified in 2025, when premiums in Rome are set to be the same. The clay-court events belong to the second-highest tournament category.
At the Grand Slams, prize money for male and female players is already the same.
Scheduling of evening matches at last year's French Open also drew criticism; nine of the 10 matches played in the night session were men's singles.
"You have to leave it up to the tournament organizer to decide when to schedule whom," Becker said just under a week before the start of the Grand Slam French Open at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
"What is also decisive is how the spectators accept it. In Rome, I saw empty stands a few times for the women's matches. It was almost always full for the men's."
Due to weather-related delays in the Italian capital, the women's final started late in the evening.
