High life | 31 March 2016

My old friend and one-time doubles partner Ray Moore has stepped down as chief executive of the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament for telling the truth. As Rod Liddle wrote in these here pages a couple of weeks ago, ‘There is nothing more damaging to a career than telling an unfortunate truth.’ Ray Moore was a very good South African tennis player and is a very nice guy. He once partnered me to a final in a major tournament and we have stayed friends for 40 years and more. The man who owns the Indian Wells tournament, multi-billionaire Larry Ellison, is a pretty disgusting individual, who among many other horrors has also managed to ruin the America’s Cup by introducing ugly, mosquito-like high tech catamarans as likely to be sailed by the average person as one is to swim up Niagara Falls.

All poor Ray did was to say that women tennis players have ridden on the coattails of the men. Judging by the reaction — especially by the egregious New York Times — he might as well have said that male tennis players are better than the women. Moore apologised immediately following his outburst, but he was a goner. The first to attack was Martina Navratilova, a great player in her time, but one that would not have filled a small room with admirers because of her overt lesbianism at a time when men and women athletes were advised to keep their sexual proclivities to themselves.

At present, of course, being a lesbian is a plus, especially in sport and in Hollywood. All poor Ray Moore did was to remind us that men are the big draws in tennis, and it’s because of people like Federer and Nadal that the women take home very large cheques which they don’t earn on a level playing field.