Leading American player Madison Keys yesterday acknowledged that there was validity in claims by Judy Murray that tennis ought to have its own #MeToo movement, but suggested doing so should simply be part of something that is happening in all walks of society.
The matriarch of the first family of British tennis had raised the issue in a newspaper interview in which it was claimed that “it was an open secret that there was abuse in the women’s game,” and suggested it would only take one person to start a campaign similar to the one which has seen Hollywood actresses adopt the ‘MeToo’ slogan in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
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Asked for her view, Keys indicated that it was a subject that should be discussed among the top professionals, saying: “Honestly, I feel like just the world that we live in we could use a little bit of MeToo in every aspect of everything.
“I think the biggest thing is just having the conversation and, you know, listening and talking to each other. I mean, I hope that people would feel comfortable coming forward and talking about it and, you know, I think a lot of people would be very supportive of them.”
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The top women’s seed in action yesterday also backed that view, however, world no.2 Caroline Wozniacki suggested that at least some of the help Murray is calling for is already in place, saying: “We have a lot of help within the tour of people that you can talk to and psychologists and so on. We have people that you can go and speak to behind closed doors and nobody else knows about it. I think if anyone has any issues, they all know they have that opportunity. Personally, I haven’t heard of any instances, but I think we’re in this age and this point where, of course, if something is going on, I think if people are willing to talk about it, it can help other people.”
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