Paul Lewis: Money isn't tight so why should it get a mention?

The epic battles between Roger Federer and Marat Safin and Andre Agassi and Joachim Johansson may have clawed back some interest in the men's game from international audiences at this year's Australian Open tennis.

Recent studies suggest the women's game has overtaken the men's in popularity. I'm not sure how accurate the studies were but I do know that, for several years, the women have been more far interesting to watch - and it's not just the usual eye-candy logic either.

Yet still the spurious arguments continue about whether men deserve to get paid more than women players.

Who gives a big hairy rat's hiney about pay scales? Let's face it, both genders earn plenty.

But the women's game has been more interesting in recent times because they have 10-12 players who could win any tournament.

You cannot say the same about the men, who are dominated by Federer, even given Safin's stirring win this week and Federer's lunatic, too-much-reading-of-his-own-press-releases, between-the-legs shot on his one and only match point which ultimately led to his demise. The magician dropped his wand.

On tour, it is almost impossible to pick a winner of the women's titles, such is the equality of the quality on show.

Lindsay Davenport somehow stays at the top and the Williams sisters appear to be in the throes of discovering that they are tennis players and not movie stars - although Serena's hilarious wrestles with her petticoat thing in her fourth round win over Nadia Petrova suggested there is still a lingering lack of focus, as did the fact that she played a lot better once she got rid of the frillies.

Meanwhile, the female Russians are quite the most interesting bloc of players in the game. Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina - all the -ovas and -inas - have developed games which have seen the last three Slams end up in Russian hands. Then there's the Belgians, Kim Clijsters and Justin Henin-Hardenne, both absent from this tournament because of injury.

And there's the rub for the women. In the last 18 months, there have been no major tournaments where all top 10 or 12 potential winners have been present, often because of injuries. So the Women's Tennis Association have shortened the season, increased the number of mandatory tournaments and simplified a ludicrous ranking system (somehow Amelie Mauresmo became No 1 in the world last year without having won a Slam). Smart.

One of the most memorable finals was last year's Sharapova victory over Serena Williams at Wimbledon, reprised in Melbourne, albeit with a different result. As a rivalry it has everything - black vs white; US vs Russia; new broom vs old guard. So the WTA is finding a better way to produce more of these rivalry-laden showdowns with top players. Also smart. But Safin's victory, the Johansson-Agassi clash and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal are bringing the same type of contrast-rivalry of which the men's game needs more ... much more.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY