Barring another last-minute U-turn, the Women’s Professional Tennis Tour is preparing to announce that its end-of-season WTA Tour finals will be held in Saudi Arabia, marking the latest step in the country’s massive investment in elite sport.
WTA Tour CEO Steve Simon has been in talks with Saudi officials for the past year, and if a deal is reached, the 2024 finals would be held there at the end of the season, according to several senior WTA officials. The WTA has been in this situation before, though, just last summer when it came close to reaching a deal with Saudi Arabia but reversed course at the last minute amid public pressure.
A WTA spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday that the process is ongoing and that a final decision is intended to be made and announced later this month.
“As you all know, we are in the process of selecting a venue for the WTA Finals,” they said. “No final decision has been made at this time and we will continue to engage with players during the ongoing process.”
Competitor Saudi Arabian representatives have been contacted for comment.
A senior tennis official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the WTA, called the potential deal with Saudi Arabia “the worst-kept secret in the sport.” The WTA is said to be confident in Saudi Arabia’s ability to host top-level events but remains concerned about the attendant criticism of bringing its signature event to a country that does not grant equal rights to women. .
The agreement for the WTA Finals would represent the latest step in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to become a major destination for international sports. It could also mark the start of more major tennis events in the country.
Saudi Arabia has been looking to host top-level events since at least mid-2023. While it’s unclear whether this will happen, some of tennis’s top events are beginning to look for new hosting locations. Leading tennis officials expect Saudi Arabia to be a key player in the process, given its thirst for sporting events and demand from tennis’ top organizations for new sources of investment.
The International Tennis Federation, which organizes the men’s Davis Cup international team event and the women’s Billie Jean King Cup, will soon begin looking for new venues for the final rounds of those events over the next few years.
The Billie Jean King Cup is in its final year in Seville, Spain. King, who owns 49% of the tournament with her wife and business partner, has backed moving the WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia, arguing that engaging with local authorities is the best way to bring about change.
In football, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired Premier League side Newcastle United in 2021, and some of the biggest names in football have moved to clubs in the Saudi Professional League, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim ·Benzema. Saudi Arabia will also host the 2034 World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr last year (Khalid Alhaj/MB Media/Getty Images)
In golf, Saudi Arabia has pledged to spend $2 billion on a new event, LIV Golf, once again attracting some of the biggest names in the sport, with the country becoming the home of elite boxing in recent years. Formula 1 has been racing in the city of Jeddah since 2021, and Saudi Arabia has also invested heavily in Formula E. You can read more about the Saudi takeover of sports here.
Saudi Arabia hosted the ATP Tour Next Generation Finals in November, pitting the best young male players against each other, and will host Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic next month as well as Al There was an exhibition match between Lina Sabalenka and Ons Jabr.
Two weeks ago, as the tennis world gathered in Melbourne for the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal was announced as an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation. The move caught the tennis world off guard as Nadal is known for avoiding political controversy.
Although Djokovic attended recent exhibition matches and expressed support for further Saudi investment in the sport, he has not sought deeper ties with the country.
Djokovic supports Saudi Arabian tennis (Wang Haizhou/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
For months, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation have been discussing the need to bring the tour finals and the Billie Jean Gold Cup finals, next week’s Women’s Tennis World Cup, more closely together and possibly even to the same venue. a location. This would make it easier and more likely for the top eight players who qualify for Players Tour Championships to compete in international team events, although it is unclear whether a single market can support both events.
Tennis legend Billie Jean King (Matt McNulty/Getty Images for ITF)
The ATP Tour, which organizes men’s elite tennis, has a finals agreement with Turin, Italy, which expires in 2025. Since the tournament began, the ATP and WTA have been working more closely than ever to find ways to grow their business. Men and women are most popular. The idea of the Tour combining the end-of-season championships with the Tour One Day was also discussed, though not in a clear way.
The WTA came close to reaching a deal to move the event to Saudi Arabia last summer as the association scrambled to find a venue to replace Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen terminated its 10-year agreement with the PGA Tour due to the tour’s decision to boycott China for 18 years. Months ago, the country declined to investigate whether a former senior government official sexually assaulted former doubles player Peng Shuai.
Amid backlash on social media from two of the biggest names in the sport, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, the tour hesitated at the last minute and opted to hold the tournament in Cancun, Mexico, for a period of One year.
The former on-field rivals, now close friends, publicly boycotted again last week, writing a joint article in The Washington Post arguing that a deal with Saudi Arabia would represent a step backwards for women and women’s sports.
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova unanimously wants tennis to stay out of Saudi Arabia (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has passed a series of reforms aimed at making women a more important part of public life, including allowing them to drive, own businesses and socialize with men in public. But it retains other restrictions. Women could not marry without the permission of a male guardian and were required to obey their husbands if they did not allow them to exercise their government-granted rights.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia, like other countries in the region, criminalizes homosexuality, but this has not stopped the WTA from hosting tournaments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“We fully recognize the importance of respecting different cultures and religions,” Evert and Navratilova wrote. “It is because of this, not in spite of it, that we oppose awarding the Tour’s crown jewel tournament to Riyadh. The WTA’s values stand in stark contrast to those of the proposed host.”
But unlike last summer, when Saudi Arabia remained largely silent as critics of plans to host major events there mocked the country in the media, Saudi Arabia this week responded to the criticism head-on, tennis executives argue The move is an attempt to encourage its potential partners.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Princess Reema Bandar, responded harshly to Evert and Navratilova, accusing them of “terribly turning their backs on the women they inspired.” disappointment”.
Bandar Saudi Arabia criticized Evert, Navratilova and other voices from abroad who view Saudi women as silent victims and voiceless people.
“Perfection cannot be the price of admission,” Bandar Al Saud wrote. “For tennis tournaments or any other once closed space that our women want to be in.”
In recent months, female players’ discomfort and resistance to events in Saudi Arabia has subsided. Several top stars, including world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, noted the difficulties faced by women in the region but seemed to ultimately abandon the idea of playing there.
“I definitely don’t support what’s going on there,” US Open champion Coco Gauff said at the Australian Open, “but if we do decide to go there, I hope we can make changes, improve quality and be involved and contribute to the local community. Make a difference.”
(Top photo: Robert Prange/Getty Images)
