Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova hit back at Gilles Simon's comments on women not deserving the same prize money as men in tennis.
World number one Sharapova said women deserved as much money as the men and supporters come to watch the women play, in some cases, more than men. "We women have fought so long to get equal prize money," the Russian said.
"It was a big challenge and nobody really supported us. It's been a few years since we've gotten that. We're all really proud of it, and we continue to build the sport and make it bigger.
"No matter what anyone says, or the criticisms that we get, I'm sure there are a few more people that watch my matches than his."
Serena also came out in support of the same prize money for both sexes. "Oh, my gosh... You know I can't bite my tongue," Serena, who beat Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 in the second round, said.
"Definitely a lot more people are watching Maria (Sharapova) than Simon. She's way hotter than he is!
"Women's tennis is really awesome. I worked just as hard as he did.
"I'm sure he continues to work hard as I work hard, as well as everyone that's on a professional level. With that being said, everybody is entitled to his opinion. If that's his opinion, he's allowed to have one."
Simon defended his comments, saying: "My point was that I have the feeling that men's tennis is actually more interesting than women's tennis," the Frenchman said.
"As in any business or anything, you just have to be paid just about that. It's not because we play five sets and they are playing three.
"It's not about me, one player, or another one. Maria is more famous than me. I know it. She deserves to win more money than me. That is not the problem.
"Just check the price of the ticket from the men's final and the woman's final for example. It's not about me anymore, it's about the tennis. That's the way it works in life and everything."
Simon made the controversial comments after his first round match on Tuesday: "I think that men's tennis is really ahead of women's tennis at this stage.
"Once more, the men spent surely twice as much time on court as the women at the French Open. We often talk about salary equality. I don't think it's something that works in sport.
"I think we are the only sport that has parity with the women in terms of prize money. Meanwhile, men's tennis remains more attractive than women's tennis at this moment."
