Former tennis stars Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are not impressed with the plan to hold the WTA Masters, the tournament for the world’s top eight players, in Saudi Arabia. “I certainly won’t play there myself,” Navratilova told US reporters before the main draw for the US Open. Evert added: “There are human rights problems there.” “I am against, but I do not have the right to vote.”
Navratilova and Evert responded to WTA President Steve Simon’s remarks. The president said in June that he was looking into the possibility of moving the tournament to Saudi Arabia one day. “But this is a difficult and complicated choice,” he admitted.
The year-end tournament for the best male tennis talent of the season, the Next Gen ATP Finals, will be held in Saudi Arabia from the end of this year. The ATP designated Jeddah as the host city last Thursday through to the 2027 edition. In recent months, several great footballers have made a splash by continuing their careers in Saudi Arabia, including Cristiano Ronaldo. The country also has a Formula 1 race.
Jeddah is considered the successor to Milan, where the tournament has been held since its inception in 2017. The tournament has been won in recent years by, among others, Carlos Alcaraz (2021) and Yannick Sener (2019), who are now among the best in the world. The prize pool for this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals is $2 million, which has been converted to €1.84 million, which is a record.
