MELBOURNE, Jan 23: Former Australian Davis Cup player Darren Cahill has backed Marcelo Rios over his claim that women’s tennis is “a joke.”

Rios riled the women at the Australian Open by ridiculing their tour and saying there were no matches worth watching until the quarter-final stage.

But world number one Jennifer Capriati, together with Venus Williams and Martina Hingis, attacked the Chilean player, saying his comments were ridiculous and unworthy of a reply.

“I think we all know what the truth is,” Capriati said. “That’s just a ridiculous comment and I don’t know what he meant by it.”

But in his column on Wednesday for Melbourne broadsheet, The Age, Cahill said: “Let me say straight away, I believe Marcelo Rios is right.

“He didn’t say the girls cannot play, he didn’t say they are overpaid. Nor did he say that they are lazy and overweight, like Richard Krajicek did so infamously at Wimbledon a decade ago.

“He is simply stating an opinion and one that can be well argued: that, compared with the men, most early-round matches for the top women players tend to be much easier assignments.”

Cahill, who coached Lleyton Hewitt to world number one before splitting at the end of last year, continued: “It’s not about time spent on court or how much money a player makes. It’s about entertainment, spirited competition and excitement, having great quality matches showing off the game of tennis, not only to a live audience but also a television worldwide.

“The women’s game is certainly in a healthy state, and the standard of play and competitiveness during the second week of a grand slam title is first-class.

“It’s now up to the lower-ranked players to narrow the gap between them and the top 10 - to start believing they can compete with the big guns instead of too often accepting inevitable defeat.”—Reuters