WTA final in Riyadh: Women's tennis has become the Saudi sports detergent | WTA finals

Before Carlos Alcaraz stepped off the podium following his post-match interview in the final of the Six Kings Slam tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this month, the world's most successful young male tennis player had something else to say. Alcaraz took the microphone from presenter Andrew Castle and turned to his left.

“I just want to thank His Excellency for making this event possible,” he said with a smile. “I had a lot of fun. Last year when I came here, this year with the best players in the world. Thank you for everything you have done for the sport of tennis to bring it to the Kingdom.”

Alcaraz turned to Turki Alalshikh, the powerful chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority and an adviser to the royal family. As the architect of the Riyadh Season Festival, Alalshikh is responsible for bringing countless sports and entertainment superstars from around the world to Saudi Arabia. Although Alalshikh has gained considerable power and popularity through his work, he is not a member of the Saudi royal family. It was notable that Alcaraz chose to address Alalshikh by his pompous honorific title.

While this was simply a sincere expression of gratitude from Alcaraz after an enjoyable and lucrative week, despite similarly pointed statements from others and the intense social media promotion of all six players during the event, it was hard to imagine an even greater display of sporting superstar, Lionel Messi.

Last year, The New York Times revealed that Messi's tourism contract with Saudi Arabia included a clause that said he could not say anything that might “tarnish” the kingdom; Exchanged money for his guaranteed silence. In recent years, athletes have been cleverly used to promote the kingdom as it seeks to improve its image and strengthen its power in the region while defying criticism of its human rights record. It's hard to say where authentic beliefs end and carefully choreographed propaganda begins.

Saudi Arabia has made inroads into tennis this year like never before. Rafael Nadal has taken on a lucrative role as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) have initiated strategic partnerships with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund. Their player rankings are now officially referred to as the PIF ATP Rankings and PIF WTA Rankings. The PIF logo can be seen on the billboards and around the tour grounds.

After the criticism and tensions that followed Saudi Arabia's early attempts to branch out into other sports, the speed with which the country has taken to the tennis court underscores how quickly attitudes have changed. And by far the most important tennis event in Saudi Arabia begins on Saturday with the WTA Finals, the WTA's flagship event in which the best eight players in the world compete against each other. While the kingdom has already hosted a limited number of smaller international women's sporting events, particularly golf, the WTA Finals is the premier women's event in Saudi Arabia and its first year of a three-year deal begins in Riyadh.

As inevitable as the agreement may seem, the WTA's arrival in Saudi Arabia is particularly significant and underlines the unique appeal of tennis as one of the world's biggest women's sports, which the kingdom can use to support its claims for reformed women's rights. However, the LGBTQ+ community continues to face significant repression, male guardianship laws remain in force, and women's rights activists such as Manahel al-Otaibi and Salma al-Shehab face long prison sentences for terrorist offenses for simply advocating for women's rights the social media.

As players like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek gather in Riyadh to fight for one of the world's most important titles, there is a lot at stake for this edition of an event that has been in turmoil in recent years. Although a 10-year contract was agreed to host the event in Shenzhen from 2019, that contract was canceled after former doubles No. 1 Peng Shuai accused former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. After Peng disappeared from public view, the WTA initially reiterated that she would not return to China until it could communicate with her directly. Ultimately, the tour decided to return to China last year.

Meanwhile, the WTA Finals have moved from city to city, culminating in the disaster in Cancún last year, where players were forced to compete in horrifically windy and wet conditions during hurricane season. There will never be anything like this again. With the finals playing a significant role in the WTA's finances, recent editions of the events have also devastated the tour's coffers. This year's prize money pool of $15.25 million (£12 million) is equivalent to the prize money from the ATP Finals in Turin.

The WTA has undergone significant changes since CVC Capital Partners bought a 20 percent stake in the organization for $150 million last year. This year's Finals are the first for new general manager Portia Archer, who joined from the NBA's G League in May, and all eyes of the tennis world will be on Riyadh.