Mutua Madrid Open 2023: tradition of sexism

The Mutua Madrid Open 2023 has come to a close on Sunday evening, following Alcaraz’s triumph over lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff (6–4, 3–6, 6–3).

The women’s final was played on Saturday in La Caja Majica. First, where tournament favourite Iga Świątek fell short to 2023 Australian Open winner, Aryna Sabalenka (6–3, 3–6, 6–3).

On the doubles side, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev claimed their first joint trophy 6–3, 3–6, [10–3] over Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

Women’s doubles final

Despite two weeks of wonderful tennis, the tournament was clouded by two big controversies.

In a one-sided encounter, the women’s doubles final saw Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia defeat Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (6–1, 6–4).

And though both winners and runners-up are usually allowed to give speeches, in this instance none of the four finalists were given any microphone time. In addition, no picture time was allocated.

The four finalists have since publicly addressed the controversies. Pegula stated: “Even in a $10K challenger final you would speak. I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision”.

Other tennis counterparts have also come to the finalists defence to criticize the tournament officials.

Madrid Open: A tradition of sexism

The biggest backlash at this year’s Masters 1000 tournament was on the outfits of the ball boys and girls.

Since 2004, ball girls and boys are no longer young and trained volunteers, as with other tournaments. Instead, they hire professional adult models and pay them a basic salary to cover the big courts.

The male models were seen assisting only in women’s matches and vice versa with the ball girls. On top of that, this year’s female models were equipped with miniskirts and crop-tops. Both professionals and fans have called it “disgusting”.

Though no stranger to this debate, Madrid Open officials seem to refuse a change in their ‘traditions’.

The cherry on top of the cake

In addition to these events, there was some backlash by fans who noticed a difference in cake sizes between Alcaraz and Sabalenka. Both players celebrated their birthdays on the Madrid grounds, nevertheless Carlos Alcaraz’s treat was considerably larger.

Some fans pointed out that the young Spaniard was playing in a home-country tournament. And therefore deserved the recognition, while others related this incident to the ever-going inequality between men and women in Sports.

Tournament director, Feliciano Lopez, has since pointed out that Holger Rune, whom also celebrated his birthday during the Madrid Open, received a similar cake size to Sabalenka's.