Wimbledon Says Sorry Birds, um, Girls, er, Ladies...

On Tuesday Wimbledon officials confirmed that the event many see as the pinnacle of professional tennis will again make the statement that the men's product is better than the women's, with the men receiving a slim $53,000 above the women's $1.117 million total.

"This issue is one of a judgment on fairness," said All England Club chairman Tim Phillips. "We believe that what we do at the moment is actually fair to the men as well as the women."

Phillips noted the men play best-of-five-set matches, compared to best-of-three-set for the women. One long-standing defense was that the men's product adapted to the slick surface with exciting serve-and-volley play, while the women play the same baseline style whether on clay, grass or hardcourt. But that has changed as Wimbledon officials have slowed the grasscourts over the years, giving baseliners a bigger advantage.

WTA officials, who have lobbied hard to get the final Slam holdout to cough up more dough, will now point their efforts toward a possible 2007 change.

"In the 21st century, it is morally indefensible that women competitors in a Grand Slam tournament should be receiving considerably less prize money than their male counterparts," said WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott. "Wimbledon represents so much that is good about modern British society, but inequality should not be part of the Wimbledon brand."