For the next three years, the WTA Finals, known as the fifth major in women’s tennis, will take place in Saudi Arabia and this has raised many concerns among some important figures.
The season-ending competition involving the top eight players worldwide will offer record prize money of £12 million, with additional increases this coming 2025 and 2026.
The WTA’s main tournament has apparently been in consideration for Saudi Arabia for months now, and the collaboration has been criticized by tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Navratilova stated that having the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia would be a “step backwards” for women and women’s tennis, as stated in a Washington Post.
The Saudi Arabian WTA Finals
Apparently, women’s rights are curtailed and same-sex relationships are illegal in the said country. The state has been accused with violating human rights by organizations like Amnesty International. More so, Saudi Arabia has been accused of attempting to “sportswash” its reputation abroad by focusing on major sports like football, golf, and boxing.
Some of the most well-known female athletes compete in women’s tennis, and Saudi Arabia’s decision to host the WTA Finals marks the country’s first major step in allowing a major women’s sports event to take place.
The WTA Tour met with Navratilova and Evert, and CEO and chairman Steve Simon told the Associated Press that they had discussed all the possible issues and concerns.
Simon stated: “We’ve also shared the concerns around women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights within the Kingdom of Saudi… Our focus is on how we develop women’s tennis for the benefit of everybody involved in the game.”
One of the few gay athletes on the WTA Tour, Daria Kasatkina claims she has been “given guarantees” regarding her safety if she will compete in Saudi Arabia. She advanced to the WTA Finals, which will take place in Riyadh for the first time this November, and conclude the season.
Kasatkina declared regarding the issue: “I’ve been given guarantees that I’m going to be fine.”
When asked about the Finals being held in Saudi Arabia during the 2018 Wimbledon, Kasatkina voiced his concerns, stating that the country has many concerning issues. However, following her victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round of the Madrid Open, Kasatkina discussed the advantages of bringing the tour’s main event to Riyadh for three consecutive years.
The athlete admitted: “If I qualify, it means that I am top eight in the world – it’s great news for me… We see that the Saudis now are very into the sport, they want to develop the sport. And as long as it allows the people there, and the young kids and the women to actually see the sport – so that they can watch it, they can play it, they can participate in this, I think it’s great.”
Gay Player
Human Rights Watch told BBC last December that homosexuality promotion on the internet had resulted in convictions in Saudi courts, adding that “LGBT people in Saudi Arabia have to practise extreme self-censorship to survive their daily lives”.
The Saudi Tennis Federation’s head, Arij Almutabagani, responded by saying that homosexual players wouldn’t have to behave any differently than they do in cities like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where WTA events are already held.
“People can behave the way they want to – there is nothing that says you can or you cannot behave. You just have to understand that every country has its rules and traditions,” she said.
After Sabalenka took a shot at the WTA for letting them play on an “unsafe court,” Elena Rybakina joined in, adding fuel to the fire by claiming that the players are unable to demonstrate their full potential on court due to “tough” conditions.
Rybakina’s statement via The Tennis Letter: “As I said, I think it’s far from being the best tennis. I feel like the quality from all of us is not the greatest. You can see it by the unforced errors. Some players are struggling more. Some are maybe adjusting a bit better … I think the conditions are tough. I don’t feel like I can show everything I have on the court. You’re kind of limited with the things you can do with such conditions.”
She also added that it especially becomes stressful when it comes to a rally as they cannot predict how the ball is going to bounce.
“I feel like if you have a tight game on your serve, you can be stressed with a rally when you don’t know how the ball is going to bounce. You don’t know what to expect. Not much is under your control. I think this is the main thing & how I see it. If you try to create the rally & try to be aggressive & be dominant in the point, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win it. As I said, I don’t feel like the quality of tennis is really good. But again, I feel it’s not by our problems or like we don’t know how to play. It’s just tough.”
Elena Rybakina says the quality of tennis at WTA Finals has not been the greatest, but it’s not because they don’t know how to play:
“As I said, I think it’s far from being the best tennis. I feel like the quality from all of us is not the greatest. You can see it by the… pic.twitter.com/jAdgn3YtAQ
As days go by, it’s becoming more and more evident that the WTA is slowly losing the faith of their players.
Earlier this year, there were numerous reports that the organization was in the process of making Saudi Arabia the host of the finals. Unfortunately, some players weren’t happy with their selection as the country is currently under fire for female and LGBTQ discrimination, which goes against their very ideals.
That said, the organization opted for another place, which is Cancun, Mexico. And all would have been well had they not announced it late and built the $6 million court hastily.
As Sabalenka first revealed, the girls were only able to practice on the court just one day before the event started. As a result, this made it harder for them to adjust and predict how the ball would bounce against the newly built court.
The unpredictability, in addition to the players not being able to establish a solid footing, was said to be the primary factor as to why the scores so far in the matches had large disparities, starting with Sakkari’s defeat 6-0,6-1. It is almost as if to say that if a player can’t adapt quickly to the court conditions, then her defeat is imminent.
Sadly, the girls would have to find a way to navigate through this challenge as the WTA finals aren’t going anywhere.
As it appears, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is in shambles these days. They’ve faced backlash after backlash, not only from their players but also from the fans. And joining in their plight is none other than tennis icon and former world number one Martina Navratilova, who urged for a new leadership.
The problem with WTA’s selected location
The WTA was already placed in a bad light way before the Cancun Finals even commenced, starting from the moment they announced earlier this year that they were in talks with Saudi Arabia to host the finals.
The announcement was met with resistance from the players, as the nation was infamous for violating women’s and LGBTQ people’s rights, prompting the WTA to reconsider and host the tournament in Cancun, Mexico, instead.
However, the re-selection process took too long, and the location was announced late.
The host city of Cancun was not announced until September, meaning the players had less than two months to prepare.
“It shouldn’t have come that late in the year, making this decision. There was a sequence of bad decisions,” Navratilove said of their late announcement.
And adding to the problem was that Mexico was too far away from Seville, Spain, which was the location of their next competition: the Billie Jean King Cup finals.
For a player to travel from Cancun to Seville, a ten-hour flight would be necessary. Also, due to the two-day gap between the two events, there was limited time for players to recover.
Two players have already opted out of the competition:World No. 2 Iga Swiatek (Poland) and World No. 3 Coco Gauff (USA) have both chosen to be in the WTA finals and opted out of the Billie Jean King Cup finals, as per NBC Sports.
Subpar Court in Cancun
According to reports, the court in Cancun was only finished a few days before the event started, which meant that the players had little time to practice and adjust to the court.
Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, slammed the WTA for their hastily-built and subpar court on Instagram, writing, “To be honest, I don’t feel safe moving on this court a lot of the time; the bounce is not consistent at all, and we weren’t able to practice on this court until yesterday for the first time. It’s just not acceptable to me with so much on the line and so much at stake.”
Disastrous Weather in Cancun
And as if all the other issues weren’t enough, the WTA also failed to check the weather conditions in Cancun prior to scheduling the matches. As a result, the rain and strong wind interrupted their matches numerous times, with the match of Iga Swiatek vs. Aryna Sabalenka even being postponed for a day.
And just to capture how bad the weather was, there was a circulating video on X in which Coco Gauff was seen sitting still on a bench and holding an umbrella to protect her from the rain. However, in just a moment, a gust of wind overpowered her umbrella, and was turned inside out. Surprised and a bit amused, Gauff could only smile at the situation.
The weather is so bad in Cancun that Coco Gauff's umbrella literally crumbled pic.twitter.com/HsyNL68PT9
“Ultimately, Steve Simon has been the boss for 9 years & here we are… to come to Cancun in the rainy season? You cannot be hoping it’s not gonna rain at a premier event for the WTA Tour. It was just a whole bunch of decisions. You have to own the bad decisions you made & make some choices after that,” Navratilova said.
Martina Navratilova: It’s time for new leadership
With all the problems that arose, it’s pretty much clear to everyone that WTA had a serious case of bad planning this time, which was unexpected for such a prestigious organization.
In an interview, Navratilova laid out her thoughts about WTA Chief Steve Simon’s leadership recently and about how maybe it’s time for a change.
“Maybe it’s time for new leadership. But for me personally, this being a woman’s association & being involved for such a long time from the beginning, & we’ve only had 3 women at the head of it. I think it’s time. Hopefully, when we get a new leader, it’s a woman. There’s plenty of them that are qualified for the job. It’s gonna be hard for Steve to stay in the job. Everything is pointing the other way,” the tennis icon said.
According to several sources, Simon had been asked twice to do a live interview or even a pre-recorded one to own up to what these women have been dealing with under his leadership, but has sadly refused.
Steve Simon was asked twice to do an interview during the WTA Finals regarding the disastrous conditions in Cancun, but declined.
Martina Navratilova says it’s time for new leadership, preferably a woman:
A few days ago, tennis legend Maria Sharapova sat down with Bloomberg Screentime host Jason Kelly to discuss her transition from world-class player to entrepreneur and what it takes to operate a successful business. The former world No. 1 also spoke candidly about her career as a professional tennis player.
Throughout the course of her interview, Sharapova talked back and forth between her time in her two distinct careers. It was, however, her remarks regarding the “gender gap pay” in tournaments that captivated the audience. The conversation began when the host mentioned that there had been discussions regarding the merger between the ATP and the WTA. Sharapova promptly responded that this would not be the case.
“There’s more than talk about merging the ATP and WTA,” Kelly said.
“That’s not going to happen. Not soon. Just this week, there’s a men’s tournament actually still happening in Shanghai with the Winner’s prize check of $1.2 million. In the same week, there’s a women’s tournament in China with the Winner’s check at $120,000… I don’t know if anyone’s familiar with those numbers but you go to a Grand Slam and we are celebrating equal prize money. Great. Those are the biggest events with the biggest attention, media, and buzz. But then the rest of the tour, which is the 8 or 9 other months, there.. the disparity is insane and that needs to be addressed,” Sharapova responded.
Fans on Sharapova and pay gap
Following her interesting perspective on the gender pay gap, fans then took to the comment section under the video in YouTube, stating that Sharapova was making ‘false analogies.’
One user said, “Sharapova is making false analogies. By claiming the tournaments in China where the men’s winner gets ten times that of the women’s winner, she is comparing the Shanghai Masters which is an ATP top tier 1000 event, to a little-known WTA mid-level 500 event in Zhengzhou. Yes, the men’s winner in Shanghai will get $1.26 million, but rather than comparing it to a small WTA event in Zhengzhou, she should have compared it to the comparable WTA China Open, which was held a week before in Beijing, where the women’s winner received $1.32 million.”
Many expressed dissatisfaction with Sharapova’s assertion, claiming that the disparity in pay between men and women in tennis is due to the fact that the men’s tournament generates significantly more revenue than the women’s tournament. One user said, “Men events draw much more revenue. Men play best of 5 sets, women best of 3 sets. Ladies you should get paid based on the revenue you bring in.”
Maria Sharapova says the gender pay gap needs to be addressed & the disparity is ‘insane’:
“Just this week, there’s a men’s tournament actually still happening in Shanghai with the Winner’s prize check of $1.2 million. In the same week, there’s a women’s tournament in China with… pic.twitter.com/b0guVdlTCx
Some X users, on the other hand, supported Sharapova’s claim, one X user said “More women need to keep speaking out over it. There’s progression but it’s so slow. While another one added, “mother always spilling, sexists in the comments can keep crying”.
The potential for a merger between the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has been a topic of discussion in the sports world for the past two years, beginning in 2019, without any definitive indication as to whether or not it will take place.
Earlier this year, the Front Office Sports even revealed that the two associations allegedly held merger discussions in 2021 centered on a $600 million contract with the private equity firm CVC and that the WTA tour has already laid out a plan to achieve equal compensation with the men’s ATP Tour by 2033.
Tennis icons’ on ATP=WTA merger
Tennis stars have also weighed in on the merger, including seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, who predicted that the two tours would merge much earlier.
“Now you see a situation where I believe in the next five years you’re going to have the men and women tour together. I believe they’re going to merge at some point soon,” said McEnroe. “It does seem it’s sort of inevitable at some stage.”
Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer also chimed in back in 2020, tweeting on X: ‘Just wondering…..am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?’
Another renowned tennis figure who founded the WTA, Billie Jean King, also wrote: ‘Let’s make it happen,” as per SportsPro.
Former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, however, had a different take. In her interview with Bloomberg Screentime host Jason Kelly just this month, she stated that the merger wouldn’t happen soon.
“That’s not going to happen. Not soon,” Sharapova said.
Latest update on merger: Yuri Polsky speaks out
This week, the tennis sports community was once again stirred when Kazakhstan Tennis Federation Vice President Yuri Polsky spoke out regarding the impending ATP-WTA merger. Polsky stated that the whole merger would be a win-win situation for both, as “soon-to-be bankrupt” WTA would get a lifeline, while the ATP would get to keep their reputation.
Via The Tennis Letter: “For the WTA it is a matter of survival, for the ATP – a matter of reputation. ATP leaders don’t want the WTA to collapse because the optics would be bad. The ATP is in good financial shape, the tour has reserved, the players have retirement funds. The ATP is exploring its options, the question is, on what conditions could the merger be achieved? It is unclear what ATP’s share in the merger would be & to what extent the ATP is willing to subsidize the WTA,” Polsky said.
WTA could go bankrupt by 2026
Kazakhstan Tennis Federation VP, Yuri Polsky:
“They are in a very bad place & could even go bankrupt in 2026 or 2027 if their financial situation doesn't change.”
He also says WTA’s financial struggles are the reason why they’re focused on… pic.twitter.com/EeUI6WyRaW
In response to Polsky’s bankruptcy claims, WTA chief executive Steve Simon refuted that the association is in financial trouble and that a merger isn’t being considered, crushing all merger allegations once and for all.
“The WTA is in a healthy financial position, a merger with the ATP is not under consideration, & we are excited about our strong future during which we will continue to grow & expand women’s tennis. Earlier this year, the WTA announced an increase of $400 million in compensation to players over the next 10 years maintaining the WTA’s position as the leading women’s sports organization globally,” Simon said, according to Sports Poland.
