Unequal Pay Between Between Men and Women Actually Makes Sense at Citi Open

The 2015 Citi Open in Washington D.C. is among the handful of professional tennis tournaments outside of Grand Slams where the ATP and WTA Tours share the same venue.

Although men and women both play best of three sets, the prize money for the ATP winner is $343,000. The WTA winner gets $43,000.

That's nearly eight times as much money for the men. Is that fair?

In this case, yes.

As a woman who has made a living writing about sports, I support efforts by female athletes to equal the playing field in terms of access and pay. Too often, when it comes to gender equality in sports, women are shortchanged.

Not in this instance. Equal-pay arguments make sense with comparable value. While the Citi Open may appear as a gross inequity, it's actually two different products being sold in one package. 

Nick Wass/Associated Press/Associated Press

Promoted as one tournament, the Citi Open is more like two separate events. For the men, the Citi Open is one of only 13 tournaments at the 500 level. The total purse is just over $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the WTA event is an international-level tournament in which the winner gets 280 points. The total prize money is $226,750.

The ATP tournament winner will make more than all the women participating in the WTA event. Is that fair? That depends. Is the quality of ATP competition eight times better than what the WTA is offering? Maybe.

If you purchase a ticket to the Citi Open, the ATP gives you far more bang for your buck. The men's field features No. 3 Andy Murray, a two-time Slam winner and Wimbledon semifinalist. The defending U.S. Open champion, No. 8 Marin Cilic, and runner-up No. 5 Kei Nishikori are in action.

The field also includes young stars Grigor Dimitrov, Vasek Pospisil, Wimbledon semifinalist Richard Gasquet, as well as the No. 1 American, John Isner, who is fresh off a three-peat at Atlanta.

Murray and Nishikori are the two highest-ranked singles pair to play in the tournament since 2003, when then-No. 1 Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick (No. 6) played. Roddick won the U.S. Open that year.

Ekaterina Makarova, No. 12, is the top women's seed. Americans Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe, Irina Falconi and Christina McHale provide homegrown players to root for.

Unfortunately, the Citi Open's star power disappeared when Victoria Azarenka and Eugenie Bouchard withdrew from the tournament.

The biggest problem for the women's event is that a higher-level tournament, with more star power, is being played on the West Coast. Winner of the Bank of the West tournament in Stanford gets $128,000 and 470 points. That's still less than what the Citi Open men receive. But it's twice as much as the Citi Open women receive. Live Tennis noted Azarenka would be replaced:

"

Vandeweghe replaces Azarenka at Washington D.C.’s Citi Open http://t.co/mUkgimFdhj pic.twitter.com/roN9yBZCj2

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) August 1, 2015"

That tournament usually draws Serena Williams, who was the defending champion. However, Williams withdrew from Stanford with an elbow injury.

Still, the tournament has at least double the star power of the WTA's Citi Open. Caroline Wozniacki is making her Bank of the West debut. The field includes Madison Keys, Andrea Petkovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Sabine Lisicki and Carla Suarez Navarro.

The larger take in points is crucial for players trying to improve their seeding going into the U.S. Open.

Although Grand Slams began paying men and women the same prize money nearly a decade ago, the equal-pay debate rages on.

Too often, arguments center around number of sets played. Men play best of five in Grand Slams and other major tournaments. I've always found this argument silly because players are not compensated by time spent on the court. If so, Isner would get some serious bonus money.

Like with any other business, compensation should reflect product value. For years, Billie Jean King led the fight for equal prize money. It's no coincidence that change followed the arrival of Serena and Venus Williams. Their matches were drawing bigger ratings than the men's.

A portion of the Citi Open's proceeds benefit the Washington Education & Tennis Foundation. However, the Citi Open is not a charity. The goal is to make money.

Right now, the women's tournament is not even close to being as appealing as the men's.

Even the men's doubles offers more star power than the women's singles. The Bryan brothers are the No. 1 seed. Mardy Fish teamed up with Dimitrov to upset Jack Sock and Pospisil. Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth, fresh off a Davis Cup triumph, are also in the doubles draw.

The women's doubles draw is a who's who of who's that?

The ATP's tournament is established. Formerly the Legg Mason, the event has a rich history, with past champions such as Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Arthur Ashe.

Only in its fifth year, the WTA's tournament is still in its infancy. Over time, tournament officials hope to increase the prestige and purse of the women's event. But right now, it's more like the undercard to the ATP's main event.

The WTA, as customary with opening acts, must settle for far less than the featured performer, the ATP. This makes the Citi Open's apparent disparity in pay proportionate with the value of the products being sold.