The WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia was never going to be an under-the-radar affair.
Judy Murray, a top coach and the mother of Andy, the two-time Wimbledon champion, has been conducting clinics. There will be events focused on women’s health issues. A 5,000-seat stadium-within-a-stadium venue has been constructed at King Saud University.
And Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion, former world No. 1 and boldface name in tennis, is tournament director.
“She’s played the event, she’s won the event,” said Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA Tour. “She has a unique perspective.”
As the women’s tennis tour arrives in a kingdom with a history of suppressing women’s rights, it has summoned all the star power it can muster alongside the eight players who will make it an event. In for a dime, in for more than $15million (£11.5m), which was the total prize money brokered in the three-year deal between the WTA Tour and the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) in April this year.
If Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Zheng Qinwen or Barbora Krejcikova can hoist the trophy at the end without losing a match, the undefeated champion will receive over $5m (£3.8m) — more than any of the Grand Slam…
