Novak Djokovic respects female tennis players for dealing with 'hormones' — but thinks men should be paid more

Novak Djokovic
(Image credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Top-ranked men's tennis star Novak Djokovic felt it necessary to insert himself into his sport's latest feud.

It all started Sunday when the Indian Wells Tennis Garden CEO said female players should "go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport." Sportsperson of the Year Serena Williams called him out, and he apologized.

Enter Djokovic, who apparently talks about women as if they're a different species, but has "tremendous respect" for them, BuzzFeed News reports.

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"Their bodies are much different to men's bodies," he said. "They have to go through a lot of different things that we don't have to go through. You know, the hormones and different stuff, we don't need to go into details. Ladies know what I am talking about."

So, do they deserve to be paid as much as men? Nope, Djokovic said, arguing that men's matches have more spectators.

Oddly enough, he neglected to mention that 2015's U.S. Open women's final sold out before the men's final.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.