WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia? Tennis world is divided on the possibility

If reports are to be believed the WTA Finals in 2023 could be held in Saudi Arabia. WTA Finals tournament, which sees the top eight women players in the world battle it out in a season-ending championship, is considered to be the biggest tennis event in women’s annual calendar after the four Grand Slams. Last year it was held in the US but it has been reported that Saudi Arabia is in pole position to land the end-of-season finals in 2023. WTA chief Steve Simon in June had said that the organization was “evaluating” the possibility of taking a tournament to Saudi Arabia, while describing the subject as “difficult and challenging.” Read: After football, is Saudi Arabia prepping for a tennis takeover? Last week, the ATP, which runs the men’s tour, said the season-ending Next Gen Finals will be hosted by the Saudi city of Jeddah until 2027. This year’s tournament will take place from November 28 to December 2, with a record $2 million prize money. Jeddah’s successful bid makes history as the first official professional tennis event to take place in Saudi Arabia. ATP’s decision has also added fuel to the rumours that WTA Finals will move to Saudi Arabia in 2023. Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record however makes it unacceptable to many. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has enacted wide-ranging social reforms, including granting women the right to drive and largely dismantling male guardianship laws that had allowed husbands and male relatives to control many aspects of women’s lives. Men and women are still required to dress modestly, but the rules have been loosened and the once-feared religious police have been sidelined. Same-sex relations are punishable by death or flogging, although prosecutions are rare. Authorities ban all forms of LGBTQ+ advocacy, even confiscating rainbow-colored toys and clothing. Even as the government has enacted top-down reforms, it has severely cracked down on any form of political dissent, arresting women’s rights activists and other critics and sentencing them to long prison terms and travel bans, sometimes on the basis of a few tweets. The possibility of WTA Finals moving to Saudi Arabia has left the tennis world divided with some being completely against the idea. Navratilova, Evert and McEnroe oppose Saudi investment US legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have both voiced objections to a possible move for WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia. “I can tell you 100 percent if I were still playing, I would not be going (to Saudi Arabia) for the Championships,” Navratilova told US tennis journalist Jon Wertheim. Evert meanwhile said she would not support the finals heading to Saudi Arabia, which has lavished hundreds of millions of dollars on sporting events in recent years as part of a strategy critics describe as “sportswashing.” “I would prefer not to go to Saudi Arabia to play the WTA finals,” she said during a ESPN media event ahead of the US Open. “Not that I’m going to go play, but for me, I would prefer the WTA not go to Saudi Arabia. “Obviously they have human rights issues and everything, just the way they treat women. I would be against it. But I don’t have a vote.”

The WTA is about equality. We have been leaders and role models in women’s sports. We have made decisions the last 50 years with integrity and dignity. We have empowered women…Take less money and do the right thing…🙏💪👍

— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) August 27, 2023

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion John McEnroe doesn’t want tennis to seek Saudi investment like football and golf have. “What about (Cristiano) Ronaldo? He’s being paid a couple hundred million a year. They have been buying players in other sports, brought boxing fights, you name it,” he said in June. “I wouldn’t encourage it personally, the Saudi thing. I’m not surprised that tennis is being thrown into the mix after what we saw in golf. “At the same time the people that are complaining about it, a lot of the people are hypocrites because our government does business with things along with tons of other hedge funds, wealth funds, down the list, people that have dealings.” Jabeur backs Saudi Arabia’s bid Speaking at a press conference ahead of the US Open, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur reiterated her stance that she would support a tournament in Saudi Arabia. “As an Arab player, I’m very excited to be there. I am someone pushing for a change, pushing to give more and more opportunities, especially for women,” Jabeur said. “I know in Saudi they’re changing things and they’re evolving,” she said. “I’ve been there last year to give a speech and interview. It was very nice meeting a lot of amazing women there. For me, I was trying to push to have something, tennis, there in Saudi. “I think it’s a great step. I think it’s something that could help the Arab world to have more tennis players, to get more involved in sports.” American world number three Jessica Pegula said she would not oppose a move to Saudi Arabia if the tournament could have a demonstrable impact on women’s rights. “I think that if you look at a pros and cons list, we’d obviously have to see there be a lot of pros overweighing the cons to feel comfortable going there,” Pegula said. “Whether that’s seeing them as a group maybe have to donate money to women’s sports or women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, to see some sort of change or action going towards helping those causes in their country. “I think that would be something really important that, if we did end up going there, we would want to see.” [caption id=“attachment_12992632” align=“alignnone” width=“300”] America’s Jessica Pegula is open to Saudi Arabia hosting thee WTA Finals. AP[/caption] Pegula however acknowledged that the decision may ultimately come down to money. “It’s unfortunate that a lot of women’s sports, like we don’t have the luxury to say no to some things,” she said. “Again, I think if the money was right and the arrangement was something that we could get behind where we could go and create change, then I would be okay playing there.” World number one Iga Swiatek declined to be drawn on the issue, however, merely voicing frustration that players were still waiting for a decision from the WTA. “I don’t have a lot of thoughts because we hear many stuff on tour,” Swiatek said. “I’m still waiting for the final decision. “For sure it’s pretty unfortunate and annoying we don’t have any decision yet.” With agencies inputs