Riyadh to host women’s WTA Finals tennis tournament for 3 years

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Female tennis stars will head to Riyadh this year to play one of the top competitions outside of the game’s Grand Slam events under a new deal between the Women’s Tennis Association and Saudi Arabia’s tennis federation, marking Riyadh’s latest foray in global sport.

The WTA said on Thursday that Riyadh would host its next three annual WTA Finals, from this year until 2026, sealing the second major tennis deal in Saudi Arabia since February.

The women’s prize pot will increase to a record $15.25mn as a result of the move, from $9mn last year, bringing it in line with the winnings available to men in this year’s ATP Finals, one of the biggest annual events in men’s tennis. The pot will increase in 2025 and 2026, said the WTA, helping its push to close the gap between the winnings for male and female players.

The total prize money available to female players this year across all tennis competitions, including the projected value of the Grand Slams, will now increase to around $212mn, from $170mn the previous year, according to the WTA. Male players earned roughly $336mn in prize money and bonuses last year.

The WTA’s decision highlights Saudi Arabia’s growing push into global sports, just over a month after the country’s sovereign wealth fund struck a multiyear strategic partnership with the men’s ATP Tour, in a deal involving naming rights, events and strategy.

It follows a series of Saudi investments in football, golf, motor racing and combat sports, which have included Golf Saudi, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and state oil company Saudi Aramco backing female golfers through multimillion dollar events.

The decision to hold the WTA Finals in Riyadh risks attracting a backlash from critics concerned by the oil-rich Gulf state’s human rights record and attitude to women and people in the LGBT+ community.

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, two tennis legends, in January wrote in the Washington Post that a deal for Saudi Arabia to host the WTA Finals would be a “significant regression” for the sport and warned that it would be “to the detriment not just of women’s sport, but women”.

However, Tunisian world number six Ons Jabeur recently told reporters that it was “time to go” to Saudi Arabia to “give the opportunity to women who dream of being tennis players”. Jabeur is now sponsored by the Public Investment Fund-owned fitness and wellness brand Kayanee.

Saudi Arabia’s investment in golf has previously triggered fierce dispute, after the US PGA Tour, the world’s top golf series, initially resisted proposals to collaborate with LIV Golf, a team-based format backed by the PIF.

The game was plunged into a costly legal battle as LIV lured star golfers from the PGA Tour, until an unexpected truce last year.

Saudi Tennis Federation president Arij Mutabagani said on Thursday that “everyone will be made to feel extremely welcome” in the gulf state.

“Our country is moving forward,” said Mutabagani, the first woman to head a sports federation in the country after being elected in 2021. “Hosting the world’s best tennis players in Riyadh will only accelerate our transformation and help grow the game further.”

Marina Storti, chief executive of WTA Ventures, the organisation’s commercial arm, said Saudi Arabia had “huge potential for growth” and that the move would “accelerate the global development and progress of women’s tennis”.

The WTA Finals will feature the world’s top eight singles players and doubles based on the points they earn on the tour this year, and marks the climax to the WTA’s season. Poland’s Iga Świątek is the reigning champion after going undefeated during the 2023 tournament.

The new deal comes after the WTA announced a strategic partnership with CVC Capital Partners in March last year. The private equity firm is investing $150mn for a 20 per cent stake in WTA Ventures, the organisation’s commercial arm.

Last month the WTA and men’s ATP Tour said they were in “preliminary” talks over the creation of a new joint commercial entity.

Calls for such a merger go back several years, and would potentially transform the way the sport markets itself and sells media rights. A commercial merger could pave the way for SRJ Sports Investments, which was set up by PIF last year, or other investors to inject funds into the new entity, according to an individual with knowledge of the matter.

The PIF declined to comment.

Additional reporting by Ahmed Al Omran