Wimbledon Equal Prize Money
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2012, Gilles Simon of France, reacts after playing a shot in his semifinal match against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, at th...
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2012, Gilles Simon of France, reacts after playing a shot in his semifinal match against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia. Simon told reporters at Wimbledon in French that he thinks "men's tennis is ahead of women's tennis" and "men spend twice as long on court as women do at Grand Slams." All four Grand Slam tournaments pay equal prize money to men and women, something Simon said he doesn't think "works in sports." (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard, File)
Britain Wimbledon Tennis
Gilles Simon of France returns a shot to Xavier Malisse of Belgium during a second round men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Champions...
Gilles Simon of France returns a shot to Xavier Malisse of Belgium during a second round men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Thursday, June 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The member of the ATP Player's Council who caused a stir this week by saying men should be paid more than women at Grand Slam tournaments claims most of his male colleagues share his view but are afraid to speak out.
The 13th-ranked Gilles Simon defended his views Thursday after being eliminated in straight sets by Xavier Malisse in the second round of Wimbledon.
Simon says that his fellow male players "can't say it ... maybe they will lose, I don't know, $2 million on the contracts if they say that. In the conversations ... I had in the locker room, for sure they agree with me."
Women's No. 1 Maria Sharapova says Simon's comments are a step back because "we women have fought so long to get equal prize money."
All four Grand Slam tournaments pay equal prize money to men and women.
