INDIAN WELLS: World number one Serena Williams ripped “offensive” remarks by Indian Wells tournament director Raymond Moore, who claimed women’s tennis was riding on the coattails of the men’s game.

“If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport,” Moore, a 69-year-old former player from South Africa, told reporters as his annual state of the tournament press conference on Sunday morning.

Not surprisingly, 21-time Grand Slam champion Serena was scathing in her response.

“Obviously, I don’t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that,” Serena said.

“If I could tell you every day how many people say they don’t watch tennis unless they’re watching myself or my sister, I couldn’t even bring up that number,” Serena said.

Serena said she quickly became aware of Moore’s remarks via social media, even though she was busy Sunday morning preparing to meet Victoria Azarenka in the women’s final, which the Belarusian won in straight sets

A swift backlash to Moore’s comments, which also included remarks on the physical attractiveness of some of the WTA’s rising stars, had him issuing an apology even before the men’s Masters final between Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic was completed.

“At my morning breakfast with the media, I made comments about the WTA that were in extremely poor taste and erroneous,” Moore said in a statement.

“I am truly sorry for those remarks, and apologise to all the players and WTA as a whole.

“We had a women’s final today that reflects the strength of the players, especially Serena and Victoria, and the entire WTA. Again, I am truly sorry for my remarks.”

But Serena said there was no mistaking their meaning.

“You know, there’s only one way to interpret that,” she said. “Get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man ... we, as women, have come a long way. We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.”

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2016