Equal pay, equal tennis

Watching the Australian Open this past week has reminded me just how annoying it is that tennis, a sport which has in recent memory generally been fair to female athletes, still makes a fundamental distinction between men's and women's play that blatantly patronizes female athletes. Why do men typically play five-set matches but women always three?

In truth, I don't like five-set matches, at least not for routine tournament play. I'd prefer a system in which all matches are three-set, except maybe the final. But whatever the system, have it the same for men and women both.

Rant over, now an aside. This morning I watched Serena Williams defeat Samantha Stosur, avenging her loss from when they last met. Great tennis players they are, but I think an arm-wrestling match might be even more entertaining—these two athletes have some guns!