London : World number one Novak Djokovic has apologised after being criticized for making controversial remarks on women’s prize money in tennis.
Djokovic had questioned the distribution of equal prize money in the game and indicated that men should get more pay than women because they have more spectators than that of the latter.
The Serbian’s comments came after Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore’s `sexist` remarks that cost the latter his job.
Clarifying his comments, Djokovic said that his opinions were taken in the wrong way and insisted that he was just asking about the fairer and better distribution of funds for both men and women, the Guardian reported.
The top-ranked stressed that his comments were not meant to be turned into a fight between genders and differences in pay, adding he just wanted that all players should be awarded for their play and effort.
Earlier, world number one Serena Williams and British tennis star Andy Murray issued stringing rebuke on Djokovic over his controversial comments.
Describing Djokovic’s remarks as `disappointing`, Williams insisted that she would never differentiate between her son and daughter over money, news.com.au reported.
Williams, who admitted that Djokovic was entitled to his opinions, wondered how the male tennis star would explain his beliefs to his future daughter.
Meanwhile, Murray described the comments as pretty strange and stressed on the need of providing equal pay to both sex. (ANI)