Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore resigned from his post after making controversial comments about the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Sunday. Indian Wells owner Larry Ellison announced the news about Moore Monday night.
Moore later apologized for his comments, but the damage was already done. Moore, who also served as tournament director, said the WTA rides on the "coattails of the men" and also made other comments that were considered to be sexist towards female players. Moore made his comments ahead of the BNP Paribas Open women's final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka
"Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak with Raymond Moore," Ellison said. "Ray let me know that he has decided to step down from his roles as CEO and tournament director effective immediately. I fully understand his decision."
Williams and Azarenka both responded to Moore's comments, and tennis legend Billie Jean King also rebuked the comments. Moore, once a professional player, had been involved with Indian Wells for decades. Ellison made sure to mention King as well as Williams in his statement about Moore resigning, and said that he promises to work "with everyone to make tennis a better sport for everybody."
"I think the WTA... you know, in my next life, when I come back, I want to be someone in the WTA because they ride on the coattails of the men," Moore said Sunday. "They don't make any decisions, and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport. They really have."
WTA CEO Steve Simon released a statement supporting the decision by Moore to resign. "Raymond Moore has taken full responsibility for the unacceptable comments he has made," Simon said. "It is the right decision for him to step down."
While Moore later apologized for his words, the WTA and many players said they were offended by the comments. Williams had a strong response, saying she didn't think "any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that."
Novak Djokovic was asked about the comments and spoke about the issues with equal prize money for men and women. Djokovic said Moore's comments were not "politically correct," and argued that the men should make more than the women since they bring in more revenue overall for the sport.
"I applaud them for that, I honestly do," Djokovic said. "They fought for what they deserve and they got it. On the other hand, I think that our men's tennis world, ATP world, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men's tennis matches. I think that's one of the reasons why, maybe, we should get awarded more. Women should fight for what they think they deserve and we should fight for what we think we deserve."
