How ludicrous!!

For one thing what ever happened to freedom of speech?

We are getting to the stage where if a man says something even midly critical of a woman, he will be pilloried as a sexist or some other ist.

Lastly he only had thoughts of harming - he never did, pysically anyway.

Andrew Munn, Bangkok, Thailand

Matt, there's a few women who can not only return 128 mph serves - they can hit them too. Have you ever heard of Venus Williams?

Mark, Berlin,

I think everyone is missing the point...

the guy is right.

kournikova has become a 'sexpot,' just like a number of other female tennis players.

when you say her name, most people don't think tennis - they think centerfold.

Ben, USA,

By his comments, I have no doubt he hit on Kournikova and was summarily turned down. Rejection - especially when not expected [yeah Justin, she was just dying for you to ask her out - talk about fragile male egos] is hard for the male psyche to take.

Grow up Gimelstob.

Bethany, Johannesburg, RSA

I think the one thing lost in all of this is...

Would Anna be able to return the 128 MPH serve?

Would any female tennis player?

Matt, Los Angeles,

"Women today make me ashamed of being a women."

Jo, you ought to be more ashamed of your bad grammar.

Beth, New Orleans, USA

<sarcasm> It would not surprise me to learn that women are lined up around the block for a date with this gem of manhood. Great boyfriend/husband material </sarcasm>

Bard, Birmingham, US

Don't know about gimelslob, but you will not find me watching a match btwn the Willams sisters. East Eu. girls are the real draw. American sports in general have tanked, not just tennis. Can't wait for the olympic games. Wonder which Eu. county will embarrass our over paid Professionals this time

g bagwell, Houston, USA

What I find most irritating is the totally pathetic response from the various commentators - disappointing, inappropriate, etc., He should get a real slamming! It's one thing to make sexist remarks but quite another to threaten violence and sexual aggression - then believe his apology is genuine!

malcolm ellis, Hove, UK

I hope his girlfriend Corina dumps him!

Peter, manila,

I would think that his comments are a threat of bodily harm and should be treated as such and not just as "politically incorrect" and oh, he has a weird sense of humor. He is mean, sick and arrogant. That can translate into being a danger to others.

Pat, Bertha, USA

Getting to play 5 sets means you can screw up two and still win; women do not have that advantage. Why is the Gimblestob story getting scant media attention in the US?

lynn, new york,

Gimelstob's remarks seem to be that of yet another spoiled rich tennis brat. Justice would be for him to shut out in Wimbledon and disappear from any and all publications.
He is an embarassment to all American's and BJ King's remarks are ridiculous after all she has fought for for women in sports.

dee, Iowa, USA

Actually, as a women, I think he is right.

Women should not get equal pay for doing less work. Women today make me ashamed of being a women.

Jo, london, uk

sounds to me like someone got knocked back.... more than once.

how could anyone take anything he says seriously again?

jem, london, uk

In singles, which is all that matters in tennis, he was a loser more often than a winner. In life he's an even bigger loser.

Andrew, New York, United States

Gimelstob apologised personally to Larry Scott, discussed the situation with Billie Jean King and issued the statement but we did not have information he to apologise to Kournikova. It means both Cimelstob does not feel real regret and he is covered by tennis authorities.

Alexey, Moscow,

This guy isn't exactly an oil painting is he? The lady tennis players start training when they are very young, and none of them know how 'attractive ' they are going to be when they grow up. They want to be tennis stars and not models, so why does this fool blame them for being attractive?

Dave b, york,

The world would return to being a healthier place if everyone would stop being so proscriptive.

If you don't like Gimelstob's opinions, ignore them. You're entitled to your own, but so is he. There are bigger issues at stake - eg free speech.

Grow up. Pleeeease.

j griffiths, manchester, england

Sounds like Stimelgob isn't the stud on the tennis circuit that he would like to be. He must be really talented though as it is the first time that so many of us have heard of him.

Paul, Coventry,

The whole Gimelstob family is grotesque. His brother was a student here in New Orleans at Tulane University, where he got drunk and ran over and killed a security guard. He took his car to a body shop to fix the damage, i.e. cover up his crime and due to family wealth, never spent a day in jail.

Beth, New Orleans, USA

The comments were worse than just not-PC. They were slanderous. Further, threatening bodily harm is cause for arrest in most countries. Talk about a hostile work environment!

Vivian Viverito, Atlanta, USA

since when is Justin Gimelstob a "star"?

George, New York, USA

How appalling and ludicrous a charge it is to make that Kournikova may have made use of sexuality to further her sports career! And to think that a former professional athlete like Gimelstob would speak so profanely when delivering such unfair slander! Maybe Serena or Sharapova can rally to her aid.

Ian, Washington, DC

What a truly horrendous and abominable man Gimelstob is.
The World does not have room for such low life.

Pedro tam, London, UK

The guy has a promising career in the media covering tennis. Why would he risk everything like this? He IS a "confident" individual, that's one side to him. On the other side he does terrific charitable work which few see. Being a talking head isn't as easy as he thought!

Ian, Madison, USA

I see this article has attracted the world's most ill informed bitter little misogynists.

Sarah, London,

I agree with Mr. Brown. This is a slap on the wrist. This low life should be banned from Tennis permanently.

John, Seoul, Korea

I had to reread this three times before it went in. Why say such things? There was no need for it, he might think it humourous to say what he would like his brother to do to a young woman and then what he would do but it is not in any sense of the word humour!

Disgusting,misogynistic man!

kim, London,

This story is not about equal pay or unequal pay it is about a man debasing women. How would the men on here who are trying to deflect the issue feel if he was talking about their wife, sister or daughter?

He is disgusting.

kim, London,

I can't believe that he is just suspended for one time. he should be suspended for good. he is sorry that he got cought not for what he has said. can this clown for good.

william brown, hammond, U.S.A.

How many unattractive women tennis players do we see on the circuit? Not one. This is society in general, people don't want to observe talented tennis players male or female they want to see hunks or babes such as Anna.
Lets face it, tennis is not played like it was in the 40's or 50's.

Melvin, Jacksonville, U.S. North Carolina

Extremely shocking, absolutely unprofessional, utterly misogynist, so stupid...
that "man" has to be sacked without delay, such scandalous statements cannot stay unpunished...
Hope Anna and other female tennis player, or others, will sue him without delay.

D'Alba, hong kong, hong kong

I caught a snatch of a Radio Four play this week, where a louche ex-tennis pro broadcasts some similarly salacious comments and finds his media career in tatters. I would trot out the old cliche of life imitating art, but I don't think Americans have the good taste to listen to Radio Four.

Mark, London, UK

I'm all in favour of women receiving equal pay for equal work. At Wimbledon, and elsewhere, they are required to perform 60% of the work the men are. Therefore their prizes should be 60% of the mens prize money.

fred, Wimbledon,

The men normally only play best of 3 sets, they only go to best of 5 during Gran Slams and the year end championship. The women have repeatedly said that they would be happy to play best of 5 matches at Slams, but the organisers are reluctant to do this because of the impact on the daily schedules.

Garrett , Manchester, England

It is ridiculous to say that his behaviour will change when his views are clearly not appropriate for someone in that position. Not sure why everyone are being so lenient when he should have been excluded from everything related to tennis. This will hurt the image of tennis.

Peter, London, Ireland

If women are "equal" to men, the solution is easy. No more "Mens" and "Women's" tournaments, for the same reason that we do not have separate European and Asian matches on the grounds of Asians being smaller. One big tournament, open to all regardless of race, creed & gender. That would be equality.

John Weaver, San Javier, Spain

Not only do women play less sets than men,they are often so one sided .Nice work if you can get it.

iain rae, tunbridge wells , u.k.

His comments were stupid but to be fair, women should play five set matches if they want equal pay. What they have now is not equal at all!

Mike, Plymouth,

Why do men resent women to the extent where they don't want them to have similar perks and salaries? Are the men losing out? No. Are the fans suffering? No. Why then, do men rush to the defense of the indefensible? You would never see Nadal or Federer dismiss women's tennis - or the women.

Severin, London,

This jerk was at his broadcast job the next day saying how disappointed he was with himself. At the least he should be fired from broadcasting and banned for life from tennis for threatening to harm another professional. That's called assault in the US and is a chargeable offense.

John Brewer, nASHVILLE, USA

The scandal is not the equal pay it's that they are paid anything at all.

Dave, Huddersfield, Spain

In Squash women play the same number of games as men, why not in tennis?

Antony, London, UK

If a woman had said this about a man no-one would give it a second thought.

garryw, london,

it's all good fun in my opinion. Go out on a saturday night and you'll hear a lot worse spoken by hordes of young women about men that will shock you to the core. YOu seriously think that these comments are sexist?

Women are bloody worse than men in these matters!!

And let's just ignore KIng!

BD MATHERS, birmingham,

It is funny that most of poeple saying that women's tennis is boring and shouldn't have the same payout are men...

Kate, Maidstone, England

I'd like to see Serena Williams beat the 100th ranked male in a tennis match

Mark, New York, US

His comments were certainly out of order...

... but can someone explain why women should get the same prize money as men - they only play a maximum of three sets whereas men have a maximum of five!

Andy, UK,

I'd like to see any of you beat Serena Williams in a tennis match.

Gretchen, Los Angeles,

Women's tennis is as popular as the Men`s game. This is unusual in sport. Compare the popularity of female golfers, footballers, basketballers to those men. It just dosen't match up. The matching amounts of prize money reflect the identical esteem in which both Men's and Women's tennis is held.

Martin, Tokyo, Japan

I agree with Sam of France --Womens tennis is sooo boring. There is no variation whatsoever ie baseline play. To be paid the same prize money for a 3 set matches as a 5 set match is embarassing. Yes women would like to play 5 sets, but can they keep up the tempo and keep the spectators entertained?

ed sia, adelaide,

Gimelstob should remember Cher's words, "I can write what I've learned from men on the top of a pinhead and still have room for the lord's prayer!" As for women being forced to play 5 sets like the guys or guys only playing 3 sets to justify the payout's to women, all I can say is, get a grip!

Terry Owings, Auckland , New Zealand

Let the market decide how much the women and the men get. Run two separate tournaments and see how much revenue each one yields.

Ian, Frederick, USA

At present the men are paid less pro rata at Wimbledon. The mens game is a 5 set game and the womens a 3 set game. The only justification of an equal prize would be to either make the women play 5 sets too (or are we saying these athletes are too delicate) or make the men play 3 set games.

chris, brighton,

No girl has been able to play tennis for decades.

Edwin, Bucharest,

I can see where he is coming from.
Female tennis is boring beyond description. The only thing that makes it barely watchable is when the girls are good looking.

The grotesque concept of political correctness has women paid the same prize money as men for rendering a service that is far inferior.

Samuel Young, Paris, France

he is right! the women tennis is more a beauty contest that a sport, and women tennis is very boring and unattractive. But we, all must be a politically correct!!!!

yanko, st galen, CH