WTA final in Riyadh: women's tennis has become Saudi sports detergent | WTA finals

Before Carlos Alcaraz left the stage following his post-match interview in the final of the Six Kings Slam event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this month, the most talented young male tennis player in the world had one more thing to say. Alcaraz grabbed the microphone from the MC, Andrew Castle, and turned to his left.

“I would like to thank His Excellency for making this event possible,” he said with a smile. I enjoyed it very much. Last year when I came here, this year with the best players in the world. Thank you so much for everything you have done for tennis, to take it to the kingdom.

Alcaraz addressed Turki Alalshikh, the powerful chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority and advisor to the royal family. Architect of the Riyadh Season festival, Alalshikh is responsible for attracting countless sports and entertainment superstars from around the world to Saudi Arabia. Although Alalshikh has amassed considerable power and popularity for his work, he is not a member of the Saudi royal family. It was notable that Alcaraz chose to address Alalshikh by his flashy honorific.

While this may have simply been a sincere reflection of Alcaraz's gratitude after an enjoyable and lucrative week, between similar statements from others and the intense social media promotion from all six players during the event, it was hard not to think of an even greater sporting performance. superstar, Lionel Messi.

Last year, the New York Times revealed that Messi's tourism contract with Saudi Arabia contains a clause confirming that he cannot say anything that could tarnish the kingdom; money exchanged for his guaranteed silence. In recent years, athletes have been deftly deployed to promote the kingdom as it seeks to boost its image and increase its power in the region, while defying criticism of its human rights record. It's hard to know where authentic beliefs end and carefully choreographed propaganda begins.

During this year, Saudi Arabia has turned to tennis like never before. Rafael Nadal has taken on a lucrative role as ambassador to the Saudi Tennis Federation. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) have entered into strategic partnerships with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund. Their player rankings are now officially called the PIF ATP Rankings and PIF WTA Rankings. The PIF logo is present on the billboards and around the site during the tour.

After the criticism and friction that followed Saudi Arabia's early attempts to move into other sports, the speed with which the country has moved through tennis underlines how quickly attitudes have changed. And by far the most important tennis event to date in Saudi Arabia starts on Saturday with the WTA Finals, the WTA's flagship event, pitting the eight best players in the world against each other. Although the kingdom has already hosted a limited number of smaller international sporting events for women, most notably golf, the WTA Final is the premier women's event in Saudi Arabia and begins the first year of a three-year contract in Riyadh.

As inevitable as the arrangement may seem, the arrival of the WTA in Saudi Arabia is particularly significant and underlines the unique appeal of tennis as one of the world's premier women's sports, which the kingdom can use to support its claims for reformed women's rights. Yet the LGBTQ+ community continues to face significant repression, male guardianship laws remain in place, and women's rights activists, such as Manahel al-Otaibi and Salma al-Shehab, are subjected to long prison terms for terrorism-related crimes, simply because they support women's rights. on social media.

As players like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek converge on Riyadh to battle for one of the world's most important titles, the stakes are high for this edition of an event that has been in disarray in recent years. Despite agreeing a 10-year deal to host the event in Shenzhen from 2019, that contract was terminated in the wake of former doubles No. 1 Peng Shuai accusing former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli of sexual coercion. After Peng disappeared from public view, the WTA initially confirmed that she would not return to China until it could communicate with her directly. Ultimately, the tour chose to return to China last year.

Meanwhile, the WTA Finals have moved from city to city, culminating in last year's disaster in Cancn, where players had to compete in horrendous windy, wet conditions during hurricane season. There will never be anything like it again. With the finals playing a major role in the WTA's finances, recent editions of the events have also devastated the tour's coffers. This year's prize pool of $15.25 million (12 million) is equal to that offered at the ATP Finals in Turin.

The WTA has undergone significant changes since CVC Capital Partners bought a 20% stake in the organization for $150 million last year. This year's finals will be the first for new CEO Portia Archer, who joined from the NBA's G League in May, and all eyes of the tennis world will be on Riyadh.