Tennis turns the umbrella upside down to capture the incessant rain of money falling from Arabia. It joins other sports such as football, golf and Formula 1 which previously succumbed to Saudi capital. Now they arrive, hand in hand with Garbiñe, the WTA Finals who had been looking for shelter for some time and whose loot to be distributed among the tennis players reached 14 million euros.
To the 300,000 euros they receive just for their participation, the first two winners add 365,000 more for their respective victories, and if one of them wins the title without having lost a match, the sum that they will pocket will amount to more than four million. euros.
The last step taken by Arabia in tennis. It started with trade deals. Your public investment fund, the FRPbecame an official sponsor of the ATP and WTA. Its logo appears on all the courts of the circuit and on which the best rackets of the Riyadh women’s circuit will compete.
Later, he organized exhibitions which led to the Six Kings Slama tournament which brought together the six most renowned tennis players on the circuit. After the tournament, disguised by holograms and under a shower of money, the Arab country’s next step was to organize an official tournament. And they achieved it with the WTA Finals.
To contextualize the scale of what has been achieved, this is the most important tournament after the four Grand Slams of the season. In Riyadh No speech is being heard against the contestation of the women’s tournament in a country where women continue to be the object of “discrimination” and “persecution”, according to specialist reports.
Aryna Sabalenkawho has already participated in an exhibition, is in favor of it. “I have no problem playing here, it’s important to bring tennis all over the world and inspire young people,” he said. Coco Gauff goes even further.
“Obviously I am very aware of the situation in Saudi Arabia. My opinion is that sport can be a way to open doors for people… I think that to want changes you have to see things for yourself. If I feel uncomfortable or if I feel like nothing is changing, I probably won’t come back,” she reveals.
The development of the WTA Finals takes place under the leadership of Garbiñe Muguruza, who is the leader of the tournament. “I only heard positive things and here we are. It’s a new country for us, a new market that welcomes us warmly. I’m impressed with the amount of work and how they take care of every detail. “When you’re a player, you don’t realize any of that,” she said.
Arabia finds in the arrival of the former tennis player to the management of the tournament another supporter to tear down the wall of tennis, as in his time it was the signing of Nadal as ambassador of the country. “This is a great opportunity for me. When they told me, I immediately said yes. “It’s a new project, a new market,” he says.
“I realize that tennis It is not a very strong sport in Saudi Arabia. Now there will be movement with all the tournaments, all the activities and all the influences,” says Muguruza. The first official tournament arrives in Arabia and takes place with a women’s competition. Something striking for a country that still does not enjoy full human rights for women.
