WTA Finals to be held in Cancun, Mexico, ending speculation it could go to Saudi Arabia
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Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final, backed the idea of the WTA Finals heading to Saudi Arabia as a way of bringing more Arab women into tennis.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK – The 2023 edition of the WTA Finals will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from Oct 29 to Nov 5 under a one-year agreement, the women’s tennis body announced on Thursday, ending speculation that this year’s event could be staged in Saudi Arabia.
The season-ending tournament, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams, returns to Mexico after one year, with the 2021 edition taking place in Guadalajara. The 2022 WTA Finals was held in Fort Worth, Texas.
“This edition of the WTA Finals will provide a fantastic experience for players and fans alike, offer a fitting finale for the 2023 WTA Tour, and enable us to continue building a strong future for women’s tennis,” said WTA chairman and chief executive Steve Simon.
The WTA Tour said in a statement that officials “weighed a number of competitive bids throughout the process” and made a decision “based on multiple factors, including player logistics, travel accessibility, venue capacity and a commitment to supporting and showcasing women’s tennis”.
After the men’s ATP Tour announced in August that the Next Gen Finals would be held in Jeddah from 2023 to 2027, social media had been awash with rumours that the WTA Finals could also be headed to Saudi Arabia.
Simon previously said that the Gulf state presented “big issues” as a host for women’s events, as Saudi Arabia’s record on women’s and LGBTQ rights has led to accusations of “sportswashing”. However, the WTA Tour declined to deny outright the recent talk about going there in the future and said that no decision had been made yet.
Tunisian world No. 5 Ons Jabeur, the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final, had backed the idea as a way of bringing more Arab women into tennis.
“I am someone pushing for a change, pushing to give more and more opportunities, especially for women. I know in Saudi they’re changing things and they’re evolving,” she said.
But retired great and current ESPN analyst Chris Evert said in August that she would prefer the WTA Tour not go to the Middle Eastern country.
“They have the human rights issues and everything, just the way they treat women. I would be against it,” she said.
The WTA Finals was held in Los Angeles from 2002 to 2005 and has since been hosted by several cities such as Madrid, Doha, Istanbul and Singapore. The 2021 edition was played in Guadalajara instead of Shenzhen, China, after the Asian swing of tournaments was removed from its calendar due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The competition was set to return to Shenzhen from 2022 until 2030, but the WTA Tour then suspended events in China due to concerns over the disappearance of former doubles world No. 1 Peng Shuai, who had accused a senior government official of sexual assault.
The WTA Tour resumed operations in China earlier in 2023, and is set to return to the country in September with three events, including a 250-level competition in Guangzhou and the elite 1000-level China Open in Beijing.
REUTERS, AFP
