Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore steps down
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Two days after telling reporters that male players have carried the sport of tennis, Raymond Moore has stepped down as Indian Wells Tennis Garden CEO.
“I’m proud to say that it is now a decade long tradition at our tournament at Indian Wells, and all the major tennis tournaments, to pay equal prize money to both the women and the men,” BNP Paribas Open owner Larry Ellison said in a statement. “I would like to personally thank all the great women athletes who fought so hard for so many years in the pursuit of equal prize money in professional tennis.
“I’d like to congratulate them on their success. All of us here at the BNP Paribas Open promise to continue working with everyone to make tennis a better sport for everybody.”
Indian Wells is currently hosting the BNP Paribas Open, where Victoria Azarenka beat Serena Williams on Sunday. After the match, Moore had controversial things to say about the state of the game.
“No, I think the WTA—you know, in my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA,” he said, “because they ride on coattails of the men. They don’t make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky.”
He continued to credit Williams with the success of the WTA and said there are “a lot of attractive” players to carry on her standard of leadership after she retires.
Shortly after his comments were publicized, Moore issued an apology.
– Kenny Ducey
