Tennis
The Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka and the Pole Iga Swiatek will play for the number 1 position at the end of the season in addition to winning the title at the WTA finals in Riyadh from Saturday. The advantages lie with Sabalenka. The winner of this year’s hard court Grand Slams Australian Open and US Open will remain at the top of the ranking if she wins all group games or reaches the final. Swiatek has to win the title himself.
In the group stage, Sabalenka will face the Italian Jasmine Paolini (WTA-4th), the Kazakh Jelena Rybakina (WTA-5th) and the Chinese Zheng Qinwen (WTA-7th). Swiatek will face the Americans Coco Gauff (WTA 3rd) and Jessica Pegula (WTA 6th) as well as the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (WTA 13th).
The WTA finals will take place in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The Spanish Garbine Muguruza, a former world number one, is the tournament director. She has the delicate task of portraying the tournament in a good light after it was revealed this week that spectators were being bused to events for a fee to make it appear the stadium was full.
Muguruza’s task is complicated, even if she emphasizes that all the players are excited about the tournament and that she has heard “only positive things” so far. The legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova recently criticized the fact that the WTA is moving its biggest event to a country that is accused of regularly violating human rights, especially women’s rights.
Criticism of the venue
One thing is clear: money plays no role in Saudi Arabia. After Formula 1 (Grand Prix), football, golf (LIV Tour) and horse riding (World Cup finals), Saudi Arabia is also gaining strong influence in tennis thanks to investments. There has been a strategic partnership with the ATP since February. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund appears, among other things, as the name sponsor of the ATP world rankings and as an official partner in major tournaments. The Next Gen Finals, the annual final of the best professionals under the age of 21, will take place in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in sport for years. The official goals of the state plan “Vision 2030” are the diversification of the economy, less dependence on oil, opening up the country to tourists and attractive offers for its own population. But the kingdom is also accused of wanting to use its involvement in sport to distract attention from human rights violations and improve its image.
WTA-Finals in Riad
(Saudi Arabia, $15.25 million, hard court)
