Djokovic back-pedalling over pay comments

Novak Djokovic is in damage control, the world No.1 meeting with former women’s tennis greats Billie Jean King and Chris Evert as he continued to back-pedal from comments regarding women’s prize money.

Djokovic caused a stir in Indian Wells last week when he suggested men should earn more prize money than women because they draw more spectators.

His comments came after Indian Wells tournament director Raymond Moore said female players should be thankful to their male counterparts “because they ride on the coattails of the men.”

.@ChrissieEvert & I had a great talk w/ @DjokerNole today at @MiamiOpen. He's a class act and a true champion. pic.twitter.com/6Ow8nBkKEl

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) March 23, 2016

Moore resigned late Monday, and on Wednesday Djokovic was still doing his best to clarify his stance, claiming he does not make any distinction between the genders when it comes to distribution of the wealth.

When pressed on the issue, Djokovic insisted that he has a good relationship with his female colleagues.

But he confused the issue a bit when he expanded his thoughts on wealth distribution that is generated at certain tournaments among higher ranked players, saying he meant all players.

Prior to Djokovic’s press conference, Evert and Jean King addressed the topic, and Evert pointed to Djokovic’s cultural upbringing in Serbia as a possible reason behind some of his views.

Agree; it's all about communication! Glad we had a positive conversation… https://t.co/ku0YpMRaGk

— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) March 23, 2016