USD 75,000 for 45 minutes

The multiple major title winner Serena Williams, the number two woman tennis player in the world, was feeling poor; this after winning more than 24 million dollars over her career so far only in prize money, leave alone the endorsements that should be in multiples. She has also won more than 2 million dollars this season but that does not compensate for the loss of “several hundred thousand dollars in year-end bonus pool money” she had to forgo as she refused to compete at a prestigious tournament in March this year.

She desperately needed $ 75,000 to meet her furniture budget during her home redecoration exercise. (She would have been fined this amount had she withdrawn from this new tournament.) The down turn in the economy is hurting her and I feel so sad. Really, the news item from The Hindu made for a not bright morning reading.

But the cloud had a silver lining. She finally got that $ 75,000 bounty. How did she manage that? She just stayed out in the sun for 45 minutes, not a minute more, I am sure. She was playing in the Madrid Masters and saw that as she lost the first set to Francesca Schiavone, the 45th ranked player, the match time showed 45 minutes. What a coincidence! Now she can withdraw citing injury (I do not doubt her on this score) and not be penalized $75,000. I am not exactly sure how hard she fought during the truncated match.

Never mind that the spectators came with an expectation of a full match that should have got Williams into the next round. Had she been injured during the match that would have been acceptable to the spectators. But they got a sick feeling in the stomach that Williams came on for 45 minutes, knowing fully well that she was carrying a substantial injury load, danced around a little bit, and got exemption from the $75,000 fine. They must have started questioning whether they were short changed. The answer is, of course, a no. Read the small print, the organizers would have said. It is one rule for the players and an altogether different one for the spectator, a glaring asymmetry.

Now, I know what my boss feels when I take half a day off, after lunch. As per rules, if I stayed back during lunch time, I would get to claim the lunch voucher for the day. If I leave at the end of the first session, I do not. So, obviously, I stay the half hour and put in my claim for Rs. 50! The asymmetry works in my favor here.

Raghuram Ekambaram