The thorny subject of equal payment for male and female tennis players has recently arisen again with words like prejudice, unfairness and inequality being hurled around like balls from a Novak Djokovic serve.

Of course women should be paid the same money as men for doing the same job. What rational person could possibly disagree with that?

At present however, at the highest levels of tennis, women’s matches comprise the best of three sets while men’s are the best of five sets. So clearly, men and women are not doing the same amount of work even if the remuneration is the same.

To be completely fair and just shouldn’t men and women play tennis under exactly the same terms and conditions? Shouldn’t their matches be identical both in size and structure? If so that would surely end all comment and debate.