Nick Kyrgios has been outspoken about his views on the equal prize money distribution for men and women at Grand Slam tournaments. He believes that the disparity in match duration between the two groups should be taken into account when determining prize money.
Kyrgios argues that men play best-of-five-set matches, which are typically longer and more physically demanding than women's best-of-three-set matches. He believes that this difference should be reflected in the amount of money they earn.
"I played for four hours at the A.O. (Australian Open), then (Elina) Svitolina played for like 40 minutes and we both got paid the same," Kyrgios told The Athletic. "I just don't think that's right."
However, it is important to note that Svitolina's match durations at Grand Slam tournaments are typically much longer than 40 minutes. In fact, she spent approximately four hours and 46 minutes on the court at the 2022 Australian Open.
Despite this, Kyrgios maintains that men's tennis is more physically demanding and should be compensated accordingly. He also believes that a merger between the ATP and WTA tours would be beneficial, but only if it included complete integration, including the women's players competing in the men's draw.
"If we’re merging, you merge the draws, you merge everything," he said. "But why is tennis the only sport that deals with this stuff? If the WNBA said, ‘Let’s merge’, the NBA would ridicule them."
Kyrgios's comments have sparked a debate about the issue of equal prize money in tennis. Some people agree with his stance, while others believe that the current system is fair. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to change the system will likely be made by the Grand Slam tournaments themselves.