International Women's Day: An Aussie update

Ajla Tomljanovic competing at the 2026 Indian Wells event. (Getty/George Walker)

On Monday, March 9, we celebrated International Women's Day, and on this day, it is imperative to analyse how tennis is changing the landscape for women in sport in Australia, as well as the current climate of equality within women's tennis. 

Tennis has long played a role in advancing women's equality. In 1884, the All England Club finally permitted women to compete in the first major tennis tournament, Wimbledon. In 1922, the Australian Open permitted female participation, and Maude Molesworth won the first women's title in 1922.

Billie Jean King, heralded as one of the pioneering figures in modern women's sports, tirelessly advocated for women's equality and women's sports in the 1960s and 70s whilst being a champion player. In 1973, she beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" match, which signalled a turning point in the viewership, reach, and respect of women in sports.

King also founded the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) with a focus on equal pay for female tennis players that same year. In 1984, equal prize money for both the women's and men's events was distributed at the Australian Open, 11 years after the US Open introduced pay equality in 1973; however then switched back to paying men more in 1996, and finally offering equal prize money once again in 2001.

Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEDT in its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tennis program on commercial radio running through till the end of November.

Even with all the incredible inroads and milestones achieved for women in sports, there are still glaring disparities regarding equal pay, treatment, and respect of female athletes in various sports and disciplines. Amongst these issues lie inequalities in prize money among tournaments outside of the Grand Slams, all the way from Masters 1000s to the 250 level across the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and WTA tours, compared to the Challenger and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tours.

Just last year, the Cincinnati Open awarded about $9,200,000 million to the men compared to $5,200,000 to the women. In 2023, the average women's tennis player earned around 84 per cent of her male counterpart's earnings across the tour. 

There are also significant differences in match coverage and prime-time match allocations. This is an issue tour-wide, but for years, the French Open has faced criticism for scheduling no women's night matches (for the second year in a row!) This highlights the continued blatant discrimination for women's tennis at one of the most pivotal events of the year. 

Another area of concern is the disproportionate representation across coaching and leadership positions in tennis tournaments and organisations.  

Tennis Australia understands these issues within gender inequality in tennis and has committed to creating a pathway towards diversity, inclusion, and equality through the Women and Girls Strategy 2022–2027 — a five-year plan reinforced by a $12 million Australian Sports Commission Federal Government grant.  

The priorities addressed in the plan are "Lead, Influence, and Play", which aim to promote equitable expenditure, community participation/engagement, and create sustainable avenues for awareness in diversity and inclusion. 

This involves creating pathways towards gender equality in prize money, budgeting, wage and employee distribution, participation, and leadership. 

This plan has already led to considerable improvement in equality for women in the Australian tennis sphere. 

As of September 30 2024, 50 per cent of the Tennis Australia participation budget and 48 per cent of the player development budget had been attributed to women and girls. Furthermore, 50.5 per cent of the total prize money was allotted to women at professional events hosted in Australia. Aussie kids who played tennis included 46 per cent of girls, as well as 44 per cent of all Tennis Australia Executive and Senior Managers, 32 per cent of Australian coaches, and 38 per cent of Tennis Australia Officials were women. 

The First Serve's Brett Phillips spoke with Australian star Ajla Tomljanovic at Indian Wells about her thoughts on women in tennis today. 

"It's amazing how far we've come. I grew up with a sister, and my mum and my dad's sort of the minority in our family, and I always grew up with the idea that you can do anything," explained Tomljanovic. 

"It doesn't matter what gender you are, just be able to have this opportunity to play sports at a high-level and that we are supported and we're just given exposure, it's unbelievable the way we're trending, so hopefully it just keeps going that way and I think all we can really be is grateful and keep sort of pushing the boundary."

Women's tennis is progressing by the day, especially in Australia. The First Serve understands how imperative it is to uplift and allow women a voice and a platform in tennis, and remains committed to providing you with everything you need to watch, follow, play, and progress the game further.

ASTE (Australian Synthetic Turf Enterprises) is Melbourne’s tennis court construction specialist.

One game and you will know the difference.

Play on a court you’re proud of, play on an ASTE court.

Head to www.aste.com.au to discover more.