To understand the background behind tennis’s biggest official jackpot of £4million at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia over the next week, it is one of the most controversial episodes in the history of golf that is most pertinent.
Three years ago tennis administrators observed with concern as the status quo in golf was suddenly torn up by the breakaway LIV Tour. The traditions and prestige of the PGA Tour were discarded by the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, enticed instead by the staggering sums of money on offer — more than £100million in some instances — from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to play on a new circuit.
It is no exaggeration to say that some watched with horror at the scale of disruption in golf. If the PGA Tour could in effect come under attack from the considerable wealth of the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom, then what was to stop the same happening in tennis to the WTA and ATP Tours?
LIV Golf has attracted big stars including DeChambeau, a trend that caught the attention of tennis chiefs
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The answer soon became clear. A lesson had been learnt from the initial firm reluctance of the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, to entertain the interest of Saudi Arabia, with tennis chiefs privately agreeing to adopt a more receptive welcome to any approach. It was a shrewd decision that has since resulted in an overall investment into tennis believed to be worth about $1billion (£762million).
As a result, a total of five wins in eight days is all that is required for Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek to claim a record cheque in Riyadh. In a tournament which is like no other across the rest of the season with a round-robin phase, it offers quite an incentive to go undefeated in three group matches before the traditional knockout phase in the semi-finals and final.
This is a significant step forward for the women’s game. While equal prize money has been commonplace for some time at the grand-slam tournaments — Wimbledon paid each of the men’s and women’s singles champions £3million this year — the WTA Tour has long struggled to keep up with the ATP Tour in renumeration at regular tour events. This year, though, it is the men who are behind at the equivalent ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, albeit only slightly with a top prize of £3.9million.
Navratilova has been a fierce critic of the WTA Finals being in Riyadh
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Embracing the Saudi cash is not without controversy because of long-time human rights concerns. It is only three years ago that Cameron Norrie was among the players heavily criticised for signing up to an exhibition in Diriyah during the off-season, with Amnesty International billing it as the “latest jamboree of Saudi sportswashing”. At the start of 2024 Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert came together to write a joint opinion piece against the idea of the WTA Finals moving to Saudi Arabia, arguing that it was “incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women’s tennis”.
It has not gone unnoticed among active players, however, that other sports have happily welcomed the investment from Saudi Arabia, whether it be Newcastle United’s takeover or the hordes of boxers travelling for fights there. One player even privately asked why tennis should turn down Saudi offers when the prime minster, Sir Keir Starmer, openly admitted he travelled there last year to attract investment from a country he described as a “key partner”.
Now there appears to be no hesitation on the tour to play tennis in Saudi Arabia and earn lots of money. October’s Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh attracted Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic with appearance fees of £1.1million and prize money up to £3.4million.
Interestingly, there is a stark difference in the way in which Saudi Arabia has invested in tennis compared with golf. While they throw millions at LIV golfers to compete on a circuit that barely creates a ripple in pure sporting terms, the pot of money for tennis has been spread through various events and initiatives. The PIF is the title sponsor of the men’s and women’s world rankings, while also funding an ATP tactical analytics platform and a WTA paid maternity leave programme.
The partnership between the ATP and PIF was further solidified last week with the announcement of a new ATP Masters 1000 tournament from 2028, which is likely to be held in February during a “Middle East Swing” that also takes in Doha and Dubai. Holding an event on the secondary tier of events below the grand slams was something that the Saudis were particularly keen on and the ATP delivered in essentially shoehorning it into a packed schedule by creating a tenth Masters licence.
The PIF has become the sponsor of the WTA’s world rankings and a paid maternity leave programme
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As a nation with next to no tennis history, Saudi Arabia’s rise to prominence in the sport has been rapid. It will clearly take time, though, to build a tennis culture among its population, highlighted by the fact that there is only one Saudi among almost 4,000 world-ranked players across the men’s and women’s tours — the 26-year-old male Ammar Alhogbani is ranked No 1,203. One eye will also be on the stands in Riyadh over the coming week to see if there is an improvement in crowd size after last year’s WTA Finals was sparsely attended on some days.
“Already having a second year, it helps,” Garbiñe Muguruza, the tournament director and 2017 Wimbledon champion, said. “In the first year it’s a new event, we’re still getting fans connected to the players. We had a successful year, especially the opening days and towards the final. There’s always those challenging days during the week.
“I think that this year people are aware more of this tournament, and tennis in general in the kingdom. We’re expecting more people. I think it’s going to be great.”
WTA Finals: Singles groupsStefanie Graf Group: Sabalenka (No1 seed), Gauff (3), Pegula (5), Paolini (8)Serena Williams Group: Swiatek (2), Anisimova (4), Rybakina (6), Keys (7)
(Top two from each group progress to semi-finals)