Serena and co earn more than men

Shot for shot, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and other tennis-playing members of the fairer sex earn more than the male stars - pocketing up to nearly R300,000 a set more, to be precise.

Tennis is one of the few sports (along with swimming and athletics) that has gender equality when it comes to purse money, but the irony is that the men have to work harder for their bucks than the ladies.

At the US Open, which starts at Flushing Meadows in New York on August 29, the singles winners will each earn $1.8-million (R12-million).

But the men's champion, who on paper could play as many as 35 sets, will earn $51,428 (R347,960) per set; the women’s champion, who can play no more than 21 sets, will make $85,714 (R579,938) per set.

That's a difference of R231,978 a set.

And if both win every match in straight sets, the men’s winner will get $85,714 (R579,938) per set and the women’s victor $128,571 (R869,800) per set.

The difference is R289,862.

At the last Grand Sland tournament at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova took home £1.1 -million purses (R12-million) each.

Djokovic played 25 sets out of a possible 35 at £44,000 (R487,975) per set.

Petra Kvitova won all but two of her match in straight sets, which meant she made £68,750 (R762,377) per set - or R274,402 per set more.

Of course, if the men's winner were to win all his matches in straight sets, and the women's champion were to go the distance every time, then they'd be equal.