Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur were on cloud nine following their impressive tournament wins.
But a damning reality was exposed in the wake of their big wins.
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De Minaur claimed his second ATP 500 tournament at the Mexican Open in Acapulco on Sunday (Australian time), going back-to-back to beat the man who then replaced him as world No. 9 in Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4 6-4.
Instead of sticking around to celebrate his win, he immediately jetted off to watch his partner take down Marta Kostyuk in the final and secure the San Diego Open title.
While both tournaments were 500 events, the stark disparity in prizemoney was revealed with Boulter earning significantly less than de Minaur.
The Aussie’s victory secured him a pay cheque of $634,000 AUD while Boulter walked away with $US218,300.
Almost three times less despite both events being of a similar nature.
While Grand Slams offer up equal prizemoney for both men’s and women’s singles draws, the ATP regularly pays more than the WTA.
It’s an issue Boulter raised following her victory and one she hopes will be bridged by the WTA in the future.
“I am obviously very happy with my first WTA 500 title. Not many players can say they have won a 500 so I feel very special,” she said.
“Regarding the prize money, I feel like there is a lot of equality in our sport at the biggest events. I really hope that the WTA can continue to bridge the gap between the other events.”
Boulter has rocketed up the rankings, jumping up to 27th in the world ahead of the highly-touted Indian Wells event.
While Boulter is hopeful the pay gap between the ATP and WTA will eventually be bridged, Australian tennis player John Millman said it won’t ever come to fruition.
Millman, in an exclusive article for news.com.au, said the ugly reality for the pay gap lays at the feet of the WTA.
He said multiple strategic blunders were to blame for the governing body costing the players on tour dearly.
Despite that, Millman believes true equality across the board for tennis can still be achieved “but I feel for that to happen it needs to be under one umbrella and based on track record that is with the ATP. Until then equal pay is a pipe dream and won’t happen.”