Saudi Arabia is close to hosting WTA Finals – and other tennis events could follow

Barring another last-minute spike, the women's professional tennis tour is preparing to announce that the season-ending WTA Tour Finals will take place in Saudi Arabia, marking the latest step in the country's massive investment in elite sport.

WTA Tour chief executive Steve Simon has held talks with Saudi officials over the past year and if an agreement is reached, the 2024 finals would take place there at the end of the season, several of the sport's top officials said. However, the WTA has been here before, such as last summer, when it came close to a deal with Saudi Arabia but changed course at the last minute under public pressure.

In a statement on Thursday, a WTA spokesperson said the process is ongoing, with the aim of a final decision and announcement later this month.

“As everyone knows, we are in the process of selecting a host venue for the WTA Finals,” they said. “No final decision has been made and we will continue to engage players throughout the ongoing process.”

The Athletics has contacted Saudi representatives for comment.

A top tennis official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the WTA, called the potential deal with Saudi Arabia “the worst-kept secret in sports.” It is said that the WTA has reached the point where it has full confidence in Saudi Arabia's ability to host a top-level event, but is still concerned about the additional criticism that will follow if the signature event moves to a country that does not grant women equal rights. .

The deal for the WTA Finals would be the latest step in Saudi Arabia's efforts to become a major destination for international sports. It could also mark the start of the country hosting more major tennis events.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to acquire a top tournament since at least mid-2023. While it remains unclear whether that will happen, several top tennis events are beginning to look for new host venues. Leading tennis officials expect Saudi Arabia to be a key player in the process, given the appetite for sporting events and the need of tennis' top organizations for new sources of investment.

The International Tennis Federation, which organizes the international team competition Davis Cup for men and the Billie Jean King Cup for women, will soon begin looking for new venues for the final rounds of those events in coming years.

The Billie Jean King Cup enters its final year in Seville, Spain. King, who along with her wife and business partner owns 49 percent of the event, has already expressed her support for bringing the WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia, arguing that engaging with the government there is the best way to bring about change to take.

In football, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought Premier League team Newcastle United in 2021 and some of the biggest names in football have moved to clubs in the Saudi Pro League, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Saudi Arabia will also host the 2034 World Cup.

In golf, Saudi Arabia pledged to spend $2 billion on a new competition, LIV Golf – which once again features some of the sport's biggest names – and the country has become home to elite boxing in recent years. Formula 1 has been holding races in the city of Jeddah since 2021 and there has also been significant Saudi investment in Formula E. You can read more about the Saudi takeover of the sport here.

Saudi Arabia hosted the ATP Tour's Next Gen Finals – pitting the best young male players against each other – in November and exhibition matches between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur the following month.

When the tennis world gathered in Melbourne for the Australian Open two weeks ago, Rafael Nadal announced a deal to become ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation. The move took the tennis establishment by surprise, as Nadal has a well-established reputation for avoiding political controversy.

While Djokovic played the recent exhibition match and expressed support for further Saudi investment in the sport, he has failed to pursue a deeper relationship with the country.

For months, there have been discussions between the WTA and the International Tennis Federation about the need to bring the tour finals and the Billie Jean King Cup Finals – the Women's Tennis World Cup taking place the following week – closer together and perhaps even to the same venue. That would make it easier and more likely for the top eight players, who qualify for the elite tour championship, to play in the international team competition, although it is not clear whether an internal market could support both events.

The ATP Tour, which organizes elite men's tennis, has signed a deal with Turin, Italy, for its finals event that expires in 2025. The ATP and WTA have worked closer than ever to find ways to grow their businesses since tournaments in which both men and women are the most popular. The idea of ​​combining the tours with the season-ending championships one day has also been discussed, although not in a definitive way.

The WTA was close to a deal last summer to bring the event to Saudi Arabia as it looked for a venue to replace Shenzhen, China, which ended its 10-year deal with the tour in response to the tour's decision to boycott China for 18 years. months after the country's refusal to investigate whether a former top government official sexually assaulted former doubles player Peng Shuai.

The tour dithered at the last minute, opting to hold the championship in Cancun, Mexico, for a year amid social media backlash from two of the biggest names in the sport: Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

The former on-field rivals, who are now close friends, renewed their public opposition last week, writing a joint essay in The Washington Post arguing that a deal with Saudi Arabia would mark a step backward for women and women's sports.

Saudi Arabia has implemented a series of reforms in recent years aimed at making women a substantial part of public life, including allowing them to drive, run their own businesses and socialize with men in public to go. But it has maintained other restrictions. Women cannot marry without the consent of a male guardian and must obey their husbands if those men will not allow them to exercise the rights granted by the government.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia, like other countries in the region, criminalizes homosexuality, although that has not stopped the WTA from organizing tournaments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“We fully realize the importance of respecting diverse cultures and religions,” Evert and Navratilova wrote. “It is for this reason, and not despite it, that we oppose awarding the tour's crown jewel tournament to Riyadh. The values ​​of the WTA are in stark contrast to those of the proposed host.”

But unlike last summer, when Saudi Arabia remained largely silent as critics of its plan to host a major tournament there pilloried the country in the press, this week Saudi Arabia met the criticism head-on, a move which tennis administrators saw as an attempt to target his potential partner.

Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, issued a blistering response to Evert and Navratilova, accusing them of “turning their backs on the same women they inspired, and that is more than disappointing.”

Bandar Al Saud criticized Evert, Navratilova and other voices from abroad who portray Saudi women as voiceless victims and voiceless.

“Perfection cannot be the price of admission,” wrote Bandar Al Saud. “For a tennis tournament or any other once-closed space our women want to enter.”

Discomfort and resistance to an event in Saudi Arabia have diminished among female players in recent months. Several top stars, including world number 1 Iga Swiatek, noted the difficulties women face in the region but appear resigned to eventually playing there.

“I definitely don't support the situation there,” said US Open champion Coco Gauff at the Australian Open, “but if we decide to go there, I hope we can make changes and improve the quality and get involved in the local communities and making a difference.”

(Top photo: Robert Prange/Getty Images)