Bethanie Mattek-Sands says "equality" should be the start—not the goal—during Women's History Month

MIAMI, Fla.— Every year in March, Women’s History Month celebrates women’s achievements and contributions to every area of history and society, marking milestones on the road to equality. But for former doubles world No. 1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, “equality” shouldn’t just be the goal anymore—it should be only the beginning of what women should be aiming for.

Speaking ahead of her Miami Open debut, Mattek-Sands joined Ros Gold-Onwude, an NBA analyst and former basketball player, for a panel discussion at the Arlo Hotel in Wynwood in partnership with Break The Love and Lillet, a classic aperitif from Bordeaux.

“We've made a lot of strides, but I'm gonna say this: I actually think we're undervaluing ourselves by only setting the limit that we want to be 'equal' to what the men have,” Mattek-Sands told attendees last week.

Moderated by Trisha Goyal, founder of Break the Love—the leading racquet sports booking platform—the panel discussion centered around the rise and importance of women in sport. But even as the women acknowledged the allies, milestones and challenges that have dotted their paths, the tennis player cautioned women against taking the approach of playing from behind in the scoreboard.

“Of course, we want this equal prize money and equality in the workplace. But when I talk about women undervaluing (ourselves), it’s because we are able to take so many different lanes that are separate from the guys where we can make more money,” Mattek-Sands explained.

“For us just to give them the benchmark of ‘we want to match what they do’... That just means that we’re always going to be trying to catch up. And I’ve found that, on the business table, it's led us away from making really great deals that would be  advantageous for women, but not the guys.”

Mattek-Sands and Gold-Onwude pointed to the rise of women’s college basketball as the perfect example. Led by the popularity of stars like Caitlyn Clark, the sport has seen a 37 percent viewership increase on ESPN—and an increase in audience of more than 60 percent across all national networks—where it now pulls in a larger viewership audience on average than men’s college basketball games.

But that’s not to say the fight for equality is over—even in a sport like tennis, where prize money parity is celebrated four times a year at the Grand Slams. At many WTA and ATP Tours events, Mattek-Sands says, the difference in prize money, conditions and playing opportunities still remains a stark contrast.

“Tennis is the number one sport for women internationally, prize money-wise. And it's true for a few times of the year, we play at tournaments with equal prize money as the men. However, it's not the full story,” Mattek-Sands told attendees. “At the end of the day, the women are still behind in the pay scale. If you put apples to apples with a man ranked No. 50 and a woman ranked No. 50, there's still a big difference.”

That’s part of the reason why she joined the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA), which was co-founded by ATP players Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2020. The first combined player association in tennis, the PTPA was designed to advocate for all players across all levels of the sport.

For Mattek-Sands—who has joined the likes of Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Hubert Hurkacz, John Isner and more as PTPA members—it’s important for women to continue making strides toward progress. But it's equally important to not allow that to become the limit—or even the goal—of what they can achieve.

“I think there's enough for everyone. And I think at some point, women can even get paid more in different verticals than the guys do,” Mattek-Sands said. “So for me, I'd actually like to change that narrative, that idea that we should only fight to be ‘equal’ to the guys.”

Mattek-Sands is set to start her Miami Open presented by Itau campaign on Sunday, partnering Sofia Kenin in women’s doubles. The pair will take on Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok in the first round, seeking their second WTA title of the year after teaming up for victory in Abu Dhabi.