Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) CEO Steve Simon on Thursday confirmed that the WTA Finals will move to Saudi Arabia for the next three years. It was announced that Riyadh will host the next three editions of the year-ending championship event starting this year.
This announcement came after it was speculated for months that the Saudi Tennis Federation would get the hosting rights for one of the biggest women’s tennis tournaments.
WTA CEO Steve Simon (Image via Imago)
Despite resistance from former tennis players like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert over concerns over women’s rights violations in the Middle Eastern country, the WTA joined hands with STF.
Steve Simon explained the move saying that the WTA is supporting the “significant change being made in the country”. The WTA CEO also talked about creating more opportunities for women to play the sport at an elite level.
We want to create more opportunities for women to play tennis at the elite level, and I think by doing this, we believe that we can inspire more women and girls to get involved with the sport. We are a global sport. The WTA now has all of these events and people from around the world that do reflect different cultures and systems.Steve Simon said to BBC.
Steve Simon gets mocked for contradicting himself on women’s rights issue
While WTA’s Steve Simon‘s intentions were welcomed, his statements seemed to contradict himself when a tennis journalist revisited his stance when WTA decided to move out of China in response to the Peng Shuai issue.
The journalist highlighted how Simon cited staying in China violated WTA’s core principle which is to provide equal opportunities to women while moving the WTA Tour out of the Asian nation. And now, although Saudi Arabia faces allegations of women’s rights violations, WTA decided to move the WTA Finals there.
No joke. But it is the same organization that, 30 months ago, left China because, per the CEO, "If powerful people can suppress the voices of women … then the basis on which the WTA was founded – equality for women – would suffer an immense setback.Jon Wertheim posted on X.
Fans joined Wertheim in criticizing the WTA CEO as they mocked Simon for his contrasting views on the matter. Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:
Notably, while fans and experts worry about the rights of women players, the WTA Tour has given mixed reactions to this move in Saudi Arabia. While the likes of Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula want to give the country a chance under certain conditions, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka expressed happiness.
