LOS ANGELES — Indian Wells tournament director Raymond Moore quit under heavy fire Monday after he said women players owe their success to men, sparking a furious gender row that has divided the sport.
Moore stepped down as a backlash led by Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova gathered pace, following his comments that women in tennis “ride on the coat-tails of the men.”
“Ray let me know that he has decided to step down from his roles as CEO and tournament director effective immediately,” the event’s owner, software billionaire Larry Ellison, said on the tournament website.
Moore, a 69-year-old former player from South Africa, had earlier apologized for his “extremely poor taste and erroneous” remarks about the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
But despite his resignation, the controversy looks set to rumble on after Novak Djokovic, the men’s world No. 1, said male players deserved more prize money than the women.
Djokovic added that he has “tremendous respect” for women in tennis “especially as they have to “go through a lot of different things that we (men) don’t have to go through.”
“What a mess,” tweeted women’s tennis legend Navratilova. “Moore totally blew it and Novak — really?“
Navratilova also raised the notion of a boycott of Indian Wells, which has only just welcomed back both Williams sisters for the first time in 15 years after a racially charged crowd incident in 2001.
Moore had told reporters in Indian Wells: “You know, in my next life, when I come back, I want to be someone in the WTA because they ride on the coat-tails 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.”
He poured fuel on the fire by saying the WTA has some “very attractive” players. When asked if he meant physically attractive or competitively attractive, he replied: “Both.”
Miami opens
Top tennis bosses defended prize money equality for men and women Monday ahead of the ATP and WTA Miami Open.
World No. 1 Serena Williams, a loser in back-to-back finals for the first time since 2004, seeks a fourth consecutive Miami crown and ninth overall while top-ranked Novak Djokovic seeks his sixth Miami title and a record 28th ATP Masters crown.
Top seeds Serena and Djokovic and stars Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were among those whose first match dates were unveiled Monday by Miami Open organizers. Seeds have first-round byes.
Serena will open Thursday afternoon against Japan’s Misaki Doi or American Christina McHale while Djokovic opens Friday night against either Britain’s Kyle Edmund or Czech Jiri Vesely.
Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, faces countryman Guido Pella Wednesday with third-seeded Federer to face the winner Friday afternoon.
Two-time Miami champion Andy Murray, the second seed from Britain, opens Saturday afternoon against either Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan or Borna Coric of Croatia, while Spanish fifth seed Nadal meets either Bosnian Damir Dzumhur or Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.
Play opens Tuesday with 12 first-round WTA matches while Murray, the 2009 and 2013 winner who lost to Djokovic in last year’s final, will enjoy another day of practice and family time at his US “home” event. Wife Kim and newborn daughter Sophia are at their nearby home.
