Denis Shapovalov slams Queen’s Club ‘discrimination against women’
World number 15 Denis Shapovalov has called out Queen’s Club after he argued that female players “continue to be discriminated against” with regards to the use of the club’s facilities.
The Queen’s Club itself is a private members’ club, with prospective members needing to apply via a proposer.
However, once a year it also hosts the ATP 500 event in the lead-up to Wimbledon.
As an ATP-only event, the players entered into the tournament are given the benefit of using the courts to practice during the first five days of the event, even if they have already lost
However, 23-year-old Shapovalov, who was knocked out of the Cinch Championships in his opening match on Tuesday, disagrees with the Queen’s Club policy.
The Canadian, who is coming off five straight losses after his second round defeat to Tommy Paul, labelled the Queen’s Club rules as “ironic” as he argued that men should not be the only ones allowed to prepare and use the practice courts in preparation for this years Summer Slam.
Shapovalov claimed that it was “discriminating against professional female tennis players” that the Queen’s Club do not allow women to train at the facilities of the prestigious tournament, but men are able to prepare freely.
He posted on his Twitter, “It is ironic that the Queen’s tennis club is named after a powerful and extraordinary woman and yet women continue to be discriminated against by not letting them train at the club when they need to prepare for Wimbledon.”
Ironic that @TheQueensClub is named after a powerful, extraordinary woman yet is openly discriminating against professional female tennis players by not allowing them to train at the club when they need to prepare for @Wimbledon. Time to review this policy #tennis #genderequality
— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) June 17, 2022
Despite his social media post, Shapovalov is still at the Queen’s Club as he is through to the doubles semi-final alongside doubles partner Rohan Bopanna, whilst he also trains for Wimbledon which begins on the 27th June.
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