The WTA introduced on Thursday that the season-ending WTA Finals can be held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, from 2024 to 2026. This determination, which ends months of hypothesis, marks the Gulf nation’s newest enterprise into tennis.
Riyadh will host the season finale, that includes the highest eight singles gamers and doubles groups, from Nov. 2 to 9, taking up from final yr’s hosts, Cancun, Mexico.
The settlement between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation consists of document prize cash of $15.25 million for this yr, with additional will increase deliberate for 2025 and 2026.
“To have a women’s tournament of this magnitude and profile is a defining moment for tennis in Saudi Arabia. The WTA Finals have the power to inspire far beyond the sport, especially for our young girls and women,” Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud instructed Reuters.
Talk that the occasion might be shifted to Saudi Arabia had intensified after the lads’s ATP Tour mentioned final August its Next Gen Finals could be held in Jeddah from 2023 to 2027.
“The WTA selected Riyadh following a comprehensive evaluation process over several months, which has included assessment of multiple bids from different regions and engagement with players,” it mentioned in a press release.
Saudi Arabia has invested closely in sports activities like soccer, Formula One, and golf in recent times, whereas critics accuse the dominion of utilizing its Public Investment Fund to “sportswash” its human rights document.
The nation denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its nationwide safety by means of its legal guidelines.
New alternative
WTA chief Steve Simon mentioned final yr that Saudi Arabia introduced “big issues” as a number for girls’s tour occasions but in addition acknowledged the progress it had made and continued to have interaction with gamers.
“Bringing the WTA Finals to Riyadh is an exciting new opportunity for us and a positive step for the long-term growth of women’s tennis as a global and inclusive sport,” Simon mentioned.
“We’ve been impressed by the commitment shown by the Saudi Tennis Federation to grow the sport at all levels.”
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Caroline Wozniacki mentioned on the Australian Open that engagement provided the prospect to spark constructive change.
There has been pushback from throughout the sport with greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova saying the WTA’s values had been in stark distinction to these of Saudi Arabia and holding the occasion there wouldn’t characterize progress however “significant regression.”
But the nation’s ambassador to the United States, Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, mentioned the criticism represented stereotypical and Western-centric views.
Shifted from Shenzhen
The match was a protracted future in Shenzhen, China, when the WTA held the 2019 version of the Finals there with a prize pot of $14 million after the Asian metropolis noticed off rival bids to safe a 10-year deal.
However, China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic pressured the occasion to be canceled the next yr, and it was shifted to Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2021.
It didn’t return to Shenzhen in 2022 as anticipated after the WTA suspended its billion-dollar business in China amid considerations over the remedy of former doubles primary Peng Shuai.
The WTA finally resumed operations in China final yr.
Fort Worth, Texas, hosted the 2022 match, drawing sparse crowds, and the WTA was anticipated to shift it to Saudi Arabia final yr earlier than naming Cancun because the venue lower than two months from the beginning.
That version was criticized by Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who mentioned that she felt “disrespected” by the usual of group, prompting Simon to ship a letter to gamers admitting the occasion was “not perfect.”
The Belarusian had mentioned she could be completely satisfied to play the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia after an “amazing experience” throughout an exhibition match in Riyadh late final yr the place she took on Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
Source: www.dailysabah.com