For the longest time, US tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been an ardent advocate of LGBTQ rights apart from being homosexual herself. For this reason, the former Czech-American player has been devoutly against hosting any tournament in Saudi Arabia. But now that the WTA has announced that Riyadh will host the WTA Finals not only this year but for the next 3 years, it stands in stark contrast to what Martina Navratilova and another legend Chris Evert believed in and fought for their entire lives. There is a revolutionary move in place by the Saudi Arabian government, which may put homosexual players at ease to tour the country.
The WTA has managed to convince Saudi Arabia to allow same-sex couples to share a hotel room during such competitions. This could make Martina Navratilova relieved to a huge extent as perhaps it was her pressure that played a role in Saudi Arabia relenting to the WTA. The move is also a possibility of Saudi Arabia wanting to come across as progressive and break their image of being hardliners when it comes to such issues.
Marina Storti, WTA Ventures’ CEO, told The Telegraph Sport, “We have been assured that everybody will be welcome in Saudi Arabia, regardless of sexual orientation or religion. If there are same-sex couples travelling to Riyadh and they want to share rooms in the hotel, that will be accommodated.”
Daria Kasatkina, one of tennis’ most open gay players currently, has previously had reservations about such tours. Despite allowing room-sharing, Kasatkina is aware that homosexuality of any kind is forbidden under Sharia law, one that’s predominant in Saudi Arabia. She was even ready to forego huge sums of money for it.
Kasatkina said, “Tough to talk about. For me, I don’t think that everything is about the money.”
Previously, in an open letter to the WTA, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert wrote a joint column in the Washington Post, pointing out the negative impact of a decision to move the WTA Finals to a country like Saudi Arabia.
“The building of a Women’s Tennis Association tour founded on equality, to empower women in a male-dominated world. That work is now imperiled. WTA Tour officials, without adequate consultation with the players who are the very foundation of the sport, are on the verge of agreeing to stage the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia. This is entirely incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women’s tennis and the WTA itself,” wrote Navratilova and Evert in The Washington Post.
They continued, “The WTA should revisit the values upon which it was established. We believe that those values cannot even be expressed, much less achieved, in Saudi Arabia. Taking a tournament there would represent a significant step backward, to the detriment not just of women’s sport, but women.”
They believe that not only does this decision affect LGBTQ people, but also women in general. The criticism is born out of the notion that such countries have often maintained an imbalance in their treatment and celebration of women as compared to men.
This hurt the sentiments of certain Saudi Arabian people, who urged them to discard such “outdated stereotypes”.
Saudi Arabia making huge leaps in the tennis world
Saudi Arabia has long been a force to reckon with, with their government specifically dedicated the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for sports investments. They have already forayed into several sports like Golf (LIV Golf being the prime example), and are now eyeing tennis. The prize money for the WTA Finals has already been matched to their ATP Finals in Turin. It is $15.25 million.
Just a few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia confirmed that it will host the 6 Kings Slam event in October 2024. And now, 3 WTA Finals will take place in Riyadh. This is truly a slow-yet-steady takeover of the tennis world by Saudi Arabia.
The ATP NextGen Finals, whose 2024 edition will take place from 18th December to 22nd December, will also take place in Riyadh. The WTA Finals will take place from November 2-9. The prize money might even grow as the tournament moves into the future and to Riyadh. With no problems in throwing money tennis’ way, Saudi Arabia can gulp down more tournaments in the near future.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is a sponsor of many tournaments like the Miami Open as well as the ATP rankings and is planning to also merge the ATP and WTA Tours in a deal valued at almost $2 billion according to multiple media reports in recent times.
