'You don’t play five-set matches' - Former World number 3 Nikolay Davydenko comes up with blunt 'unfair to pay women equally' remarks

Former World Number 3 tennis star Nikolay Davydenko was recently in action in an exhibition tournament in St. Petersburg. This tournament [Trophy of the Northern Palmyra] also included Elena Vesnina’s farewell match, alongside Anastasia Myskina. Davydenko also spoke to the journalists after the conclusion of the game.

In the same line of events, former Russian International also came up with ‘hard and fast-lined’ and blunt statements while speaking in a comparative tone about men’s and women’s tennis players. Davydenko also expressed his opinions about the question of equal pay for men and women in the professional tennis circuit. 

Male tennis players work three times harder than female - Nikolay Davydenko

The former Russian star didn’t hold himself back from vouching in a firm tone for the male tennis professionals while comparing their ‘pay scale’ with women tennis stars.

“In the 250, 500, 1000 category tournaments, it’s possible. But when you talk about Grand Slam tournaments… You don’t play five-set matches. Serena Williams won the Grand Slams, losing only 10 games in the tournament. She won 6–0, 6–1, 6–2 without even breaking a sweat or feeling stressed,” said Davydenko in an interview with Match TV.

“Male tennis players work three times harder than female tennis players, especially in Grand Slam tournaments. So, it’s unfair to pay them equally,” he added later.

Furthermore, the 43-year-old had also some unfiltered and blunt opinions while answering the question of ‘continuing to play professional tennis regardless of age.’ He also questioned Nadal and Federer for resuming their post-35 or post-40.

“I can’t do it at 43… If I had finished at 25 due to an injury, then at 30, having recovered, I could have returned. At my age, the body can no longer cope with such loads,” he said.

“Nadal wasn't even 40, and he couldn't physically compete with top-50 professionals at the same level. It's useless. Federer at 40 tried to prove that he was cool. But he didn't prove anything. Djokovic is doing the same thing now, trying to show that age doesn't matter to him. Novak is trying to cheat nature, but you can only do that for a couple of years,” Davydenko concluded.