56 Years After Billie Jean King's $600 Check, Rome Will Pay Women the Same as Men

In 1970, Billie Jean King won the Italian Open and was paid $600. Ilie Nastase won the men's title the same week and got $3,500. King has often said that gap is part of why she helped start a women's tour.

In 2027, the tournament in Rome will finally pay women and men the same total prize money.

It's part of what the WTA called a "major milestone" announced Thursday: every combined WTA 1000 event, where men and women play at the same venue, will offer equal prize money for the first time.

The last three

Rome, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open were the holdouts. Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing already paid equally, as do all four Grand Slams.

Rome has promised this before. In 2023, organizers pledged equal pay starting in 2025, and it didn't happen. This year the men's purse in Rome was $9.6 million and the women's was $8.3 million.

It demonstrates the WTA's continued commitment to leading the sports industry in delivering our athletes competitive and financial equality.

That was WTA chair Valerie Camillo.

Also changing in 2027

• Top-50 players will have to play four WTA 500 events a year instead of six, for a base commitment of 14 tour events plus the Grand Slams.

• Manila gets an expanded WTA 250 tournament, riding the popularity of No. 18 Alex Eala. The Philippines hosted a WTA 125 event in January.

Camillo said the schedule changes came from listening to players about the demands of the calendar.