Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/656590
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2016 TENNIS FORMULA 1 Serena slams Indian Wells CEO for telling women to 'get down on their knees' Indian Wells chief executive and tournament director Raymond Moore provoked outrage on Sunday with controversial comments he made before the women's and men's finals at Indian Wells, and later issued an official apology THE 69-year-old South African had earlier told reporters that top-level women's players rode "on the coattails of the men", did not make any decisions and were "very, very lucky" to have equal prize money, sparking a fire- storm on social media. He also said that, "if I were a lady player, I would go down eve- ry night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Ra- fael Nadal were born. They have carried the sport." Moore also singled out Cana- da's Eugenie Bouchard and Span- iard Garbine Muguruza as being among the "very attractive pros- pects" on the WTA circuit tour, before explaining that they were "physically attractive and com- petitively attractive". Serena Williams, when asked in her post-match news confer- ence about Moore's comments, replied: "Those remarks are very much mistaken and very, very, very inaccurate... "Obviously I don't think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that." Asked if people had interpreted Moore's words harshly, Serena scoffed. "If you read the transcript you can only interpret it one way. I speak very good English. I'm sure he does too," she said. Moore later apologised in a statement which he issued lat- er in the day: "At my morning breakfast with the media, I made comments about the WTA that were in extremely poor taste and erroneous. "I am truly sorry for those re- marks, and apologise to all the players and WTA as a whole. "We had a women's final today that reflects the strength of the players, especially Serena and Victoria, and the entire WTA. Again, I am truly sorry for my remarks." Moore, a former ATP Tour player who won eight doubles titles during the 1970s and early 1980s, issued his apology after former world number one Vic- toria Azarenka had beaten an error-prone Serena 6-4 6-4 in the women's final. Moore landed himself in hot water when he said during his annual breakfast with me- dia covering the Indian Wells event: "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. "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." Moore went on to say that Muguruza and Bouchard were among a "handful of very attrac- tive prospects" who could take up the mantle in the women's game. When asked what he meant by attractive, he replied: "They are physically attractive and com- petitively attractive. They can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop." Indiant Wells chief executive and tournament director Ray- mond Moore provoked outrage on Sunday with controversial comments he made before the women's and men's finals at In- dian Wells, and later issued an official apology. The 69-year-old South African had earlier told reporters that top-level women's players rode "on the coattails of the men", did not make any decisions and were "very, very lucky" to have equal prize money, sparking a fire- storm on social media. He also said that, "if I were a lady player, I would go down eve- ry night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Ra- fael Nadal were born. They have carried the sport." Moore also singled out Cana- da's Eugenie Bouchard and Span- iard Garbine Muguruza as being among the "very attractive pros- pects" on the WTA circuit tour, before explaining that they were "physically attractive and com- petitively attractive". Serena Williams, when asked in her post-match news confer- ence about Moore's comments, replied: "Those remarks are very much mistaken and very, very, very inaccurate... "Obviously I don't think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that." Asked if people had interpreted Moore's words harshly, Serena scoffed. "If you read the transcript you can only interpret it one way. I speak very good English. I'm sure he does to," she said. Moore later apologised in a statement which he issued lat- er in the day: "At my morning breakfast with the media, I made comments about the WTA that were in extremely poor taste and erroneous. "I am truly sorry for those re- marks, and apologise to all the players and WTA as a whole. "We had a women's final today that reflects the strength of the players, especially Serena and Victoria, and the entire WTA. Again, I am truly sorry for my remarks." Moore, a former ATP Tour player who won eight doubles titles during the 1970s and early 1980s, issued his apology after former world number one Vic- toria Azarenka had beaten an error-prone Serena 6-4 6-4 in the women's final. Moore landed himself in hot water when he said during his annual breakfast with media covering the Indian Wells event: "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. "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." Moore went on to say that Muguruza and Bouchard were among a "handful of very attrac- tive prospects" who could take up the mantle in the women's game. When asked what he meant by attractive, he replied: "They are physically attractive and com- petitively attractive. They can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop." Billie Jean King, who co-found- ed the WTA Tour and has long been a pioneer in the women's game, tweeted: "Disappointed in #RaymondMoore comments. He is wrong on so many levels. Every player, especially the top players, contribute to our success." Fellow American Chris Evert, an 18-time grand slam champi- on, tweeted: "Now is the Golden Era 4 men, no doubt, but women have worked, fought harder, and have been bigger draws many times." Vettel: Ferrari 'a lot closer' to Mercedes SEBASTIAN Vettel says Ferrari's performance during the Austral- ian Grand Prix demonstrates that it has closed the gap to Mer- cedes, despite taking third for the second successive season. Vettel stormed into the lead and maintained his position at the head of the pack, though was undone by strategy following Ferrari's decision to keep him on Super Soft tyres following the red f lag period. Vettel dropped behind the Mer- cedes drivers due to the need to make an extra pit-stop and was unable to overhaul Lewis Hamil- ton, as he slithered wide onto the grass late on in his pursuit of the Briton. Vettel admits the feeling is dif- ferent compared to his podium in 2015, when Ferrari had low expectations, whereas now it has the ambition of winning the title this year. "Of course we expect more this year; last year was a bit un- known," he said. "I think we were happy to be on the podium [in 2015] after the season that Ferrari had in 2014 and I had in 2014. This year we obviously come with more ex- pectations. "Naturally, when you finish second in the Constructors' you want to challenge for first. "I think we managed to close the gap more than anyone else, so there are plenty of positives." Vettel is adamant that Ferrari will be able to apply the pressure to Mercedes with its SF16-H. "At home in Maranello there has been a lot of work going into this car and I think this is the right car that should allow us to put a lot of pressure on these guys," he said. "We know that the benchmark is high but we are on the right track, things are coming togeth- er. "It's not entirely the same result [as 2015]. I think Nico [Rosberg] was second last year, so I'm sure he's happy about that. But all in all, we are a lot closer, so plenty of positives."