By Katia Jordan

Zina Garrison (courtesy of Zina Garrison)

Sloane Stephens American female professional tennis player, recently made history in the women's tennis association (WTA) when she proudly accepted a groundbreaking check for over three million three million dollars after defeating fellow American, Madison Keys at the U.S. Open Grand Slam. Former professional tennis player, Zina Garrison, who had an illustrious 15-year career and earned over four-million dollars in prize earnings, said watching Stephens accept the highest written check in the WTA at such an early-stage in her career was a monumental moment.

Garrison explained that, "When I played on the WTA in the 80s, we had to scratch and claw to simply just schedule a meeting with WTA executives and directors discussing equal pay. But to now see women receiving equal pay in grand slam events is a clear indicator that the WTA has tremendously progressed and has solidified itself as a leading women's athletic organization that is successfully bridging the gap and obtaining the respect all women's professional sports should have."

Garrison said that when she attended WTA tournaments as a coach she often was surrounded by packed crowds. She said, "I went to the U.S.Open a few years back when I was coaching American WTA player,Taylor Townsend and I just remember the men's matches being so accessible to obtain seats, but for the women's matches I could barely move. I literally didn't see one seat open in the 23,000 Arthur Ashe stadium."

Bowling Green associate professor in sport management with an expertise in women's tennis sports culture, Dr.Nancy Spencer said, she believes women's tennis is so entertaining and successful because there isn't too much of a difference pertaining to the level of play in womens tennis and mens tennis. "In womens basketball the game is tailored differently and most of the womens players aren't physically able to perform actions like dunk or shoot from half court because they may just not be physically able to do so. In tennis the biggest difference between the mens and women's game is the amount of sets played. For example, the men's play three out of five sets and the women play two out of three sets. But there isn't a shot that women's tennis players can't execute that a man can."

Women's professional tennis has become a staple in professional women's athletics, mainly because women's tennis is the only female professional sport that has received equal pay during grand slam events, garnered consistent media coverage, obtained large endorsement deals and have signed major TV deals to cover all WTA tournaments. The WTA attributes their big prize money to high attendance at tournaments, investors and major tv deals. The WTA recently signed a ten-year deal ten-year deal over five-hundred and twenty-five million with television broadcaster beIN Media Group, which covers 30 territories worldwide.

Billie Jean King was very instrumental in obtaining equal pay for women's professional tennis (Courtesy of Getty Images)

Billie Jean's Contribution to the WTA

Zina Garrison and her good friend Bille Jean King. (Picture Courtesy of Zina Garrison)

Billie Jean King's relentless activism and fight for women's tennis is a major factor in why women's tennis has been able to excell. King founded the WTA in 1973, after she discovered the men established their own professional tennis league called the Association of Tennis Professionals(ATP.) King grew frustrated that women were underrepresented in professional tennis and was determined to tresolve that issue. "I knew from the age of 12 that I wanted to change the world through tennis." King told pbs.org that "Everyone thinks that women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake,the icing and cherry on top too." King's prowess in establishing the WTA required her to prove to millions of fans and investors that the women's league would be legit and would be just as entertaining as the ATP with the men's tennis players. To help further prove that women belonged, King participated in a Battle of the Sexes exhibition match on Sept. 20, 1973, 44 years ago,where she played former men's Wimbledon Champion Bobby Riggs. The match had a $100,000 prize reward and the possibility of tarnishing the already criticized reputation of women's tennis at stake. Despite King bearing the weight of women's tennis on her shoulders, King overcame the pressure and defeated Riggs in a highly publicized three set match, 4-6,6-3,6-3. "The open era of the Billy Jean King versus Bobby Riggs battle of the sexes match brought women's professional tennis into the public awareness, ultimately causing women's tennis to boom and attract larger crowds, said by Bowling Green State associate professor Dr. Spencer. "I think women's tennis is able to do better than other women's professional sports because for one thing they've been around longer. And then also you have iconic figures like Billie Jean King and Venus Williams in particular, who made equal pay and equal recognition part of their mission in their careers." Garrison had a close relationship with Billie Jean King throughout her career, so she was able to see first-hand the passion and importance of fighting for equal rights for women athletes. Garrison said,"Billie Jean King is one of women's tennis and women's sports greatest gifts because she fearlessly fought for women's rights and did whatever it took to make sure women athletes were viewed and treated the same way men's athletes were." Venus Williams has also been very outspoken in fighting for equal pay. "Venus Williams has gone above and beyond with fighting for equal pay. She is mainly the reason for Women receiving equal pay at the Wimbledon Grand Slam." "She flew back and forth to London every couple months for a couple years because she refused take no for answer," said by Dr.Spencer.

Other sports such as women's basketball and women's soccer have showed tremendous strides as far as increased fan base and coverage, but they are still under-covered and unable to reach the same success as women's tennis. Women's Basketball was founded on April 24,1997 by David Stern. The WNBA is a fairly young organization,but they have struggled to attract a consistent fan base. The average attendance for WNBA game is 7,655 people, according to sports publication, SB. WNBA sports agent Trisonya Abraham said, "The WNBA is fairly new so we aren't going to get the same crowd tennis gets with Serena Williams, especially since she has been in the public's eyes since she was like 16, but women's basketball is significantly improving as far as attendance, so in due time I do feel like we can bridge the gap" Women's tennis is affiliated with the NBA, therefore the NBA also controls the WNBA schedule. The WNBA games take place after the NBA games, unlike tennis where both of their seasons are active during the same time period. Many people are unsure whether or not the WNBA will ever reach the height of success the NBA has reached. Dr. Mary Jo Kane a teacher at University of Minnesota doesn't believe that WNBA will ever bridge the gap with the NBA. "I think that that the WNBA which is so far away from the NBA in terms of what their players make. I don't know. I certainly don't think it is the case in our lifetime that those athletes from the WNBA will approximate anything compared to the basketball players who make astronomical sums. But not in my lifetime maybe in years when was your student." Women’s professional soccer player for the North Carolina Courage, Ashley Hatch, believes that all women’s sports across the board need to improve ad gain respect. Hatch said, “ I just think that women’s sports in general has always been a step behind men’s sports in pretty much every category but I do think that can change. There have been small improvements in the past couple years and there are people who are trying to help improve the game for professional women’s soccer players. It’s hard to compete with the men’s game right now, but it’s all about getting the word out and increasing fan base. There are still a lot of people out there that don’t even know there is a professional women’s soccer league.”

Women's tennis hasn't completely bridged the gap with men's tennis because WTA players don't receive equal pay for all tournaments, it is just for grand slam tournaments. "The WTA has evolved amazingly, but people need to know their is still more work to do, with WTA players endorsement deals and equal pay for all tournments. Professional women's tennis has put together a secret recipe that no other professional women's sport has been able to achieve. Professional women's tennis has created the blueprint for other women's professional sports.

(Main title background photo courtesy of Carlton De Broug)