Women hit back in Wimbledon 'gender pay equality' row

London, June 29 (ANI): Women tennis players have blasted the Wimbledon 'gender pay equality' row after tennis ace Maria Sharapova claimed that 'we are worth every penny of our equal pay.'

Sharapova delivered a withering put-down to French star Gilles Simon who had earlier caused controversy by claiming women do not deserve to be paid as much as men because the men's game is more 'attractive'.

"More people watch my games than his," the Daily Mail quoted Sharapova, as saying.

American star and 13 Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, reiterated the same notion.Women's tennis is really awesome... Maria's right, a lot more people are watching her than him. She's way hotter than he is," she said.

However, Simon, recently elected to the Association of Tennis Professionals Council, stood by his remarks.

He insisted that all 128 men on the ATP World Tour agree with him, but have not said so because they are afraid of having millions of dollars cut from their contracts if they speak out on the 'sensitive' issue.

"You can ask everybody. The 128 players think like me, that's for sure. I had the conversation in the locker room and for sure they agree with me. Trust me," he said.

"It's about the entertainment. My point was that I have the feeling that men's tennis is actually more interesting than women's tennis. As in any business or anything, you just have to be paid just about that," he added. (ANI)