When Steffi Graf’s ex-boyfriend called women’s tennis pay ‘a scandal’, “Some of the girls, they don’t even sweat and they make millions”

Steffi Graf’s former boyfriend Alexander Mronz once called women’s tennis “ping-pong” and expressed his displeasure with the amount some female players were being paid.

Mronz had a very modest career, throughout which he only ever reached the fourth round of one Grand Slam and had a career-high singles ranking of 165.Mronz discussed women’s tennis in an interview in 1989, saying that apart from a few, the money other women made was a “scandal”. He said that some of the female players made millions without sweating.

“It is not tennis, it is Ping-Pong,” he said (via Los Angeles Times). “With the exception of a few, the big money the women make is a scandal. Every man has to fight 100% in the first round, and some of the girls, they don’t even sweat and they make millions.”

Alexander Mronz also stated that he earned his own money and didn’t rely on Graf. However, he admitted that he required a coach, which was something he couldn’t afford at the time.
“I don’t want Steffi’s money. I make my own money. What I need is a coach, but I can’t afford a coach,” Mronz said.