Aryna Sabalenka downs Coco Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final

There is a famous viral video of an eight-year-old Coco Gauff dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” in the stands of center court at the US Open during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

From that same 2012 edition of the tournament, there are images of the young Gauff watching Venus Williams play her first round match. She is seen sitting right behind Williams’ bench.

Eleven years later, Gauff stood in the middle of Arthur Ashe Stadium and lifted the US Open trophy, becoming a Grand Slam champion at the age of 19.

Just as she was inspired by Venus and Serena Williams growing up, and got to manifest a dream that started when she was a young fan in the stands at the US Open, Gauff is hoping she and her fellow players can have a similar impact when the WTA Finals roll through Riyadh this November.

“I feel like in order to enact a dream or for a kid to see a dream, they have to see it in person,” Gauff said in New York last month.

“Obviously, you guys all saw that video of me a long time ago here. A lot of the people are hoping that there is a player or a kid that comes out from Saudi and able to say, ‘This WTA Finals changed my outlook,’ or made me realize I had a dream or a possibility in this sport.

“I think that’s what tennis is all about.”

The prestigious season-ending championships of the WTA Tour will be hosted in Riyadh for three years, with the first edition taking place from November 2-9, 2024 at King Saudi University’s indoor stadium.

The tournament features the best eight singles players and top eight doubles teams on the women’s circuit and will be the biggest professional tennis event to be staged in Saudi Arabia.

Considered the crown jewel of the tour, the WTA Finals has experienced great uncertainty over the past few years, mostly due to the coronavirus pandemic that came after just one staging of the tournament in 2019 in Shenzhen, which was meant to host the event for 10 years.

The three-year partnership between the WTA Finals and the Saudi Tennis Federation has numerous objectives and there are several reasons why Riyadh was chosen as the new host city for the tournament.

“It was really important to us that we were not only bringing the WTA Finals to make the Finals into an amazing event, but also that we could make an impact that lasts beyond the event itself, to leave a legacy for many years to come,” Marina Storti, the CEO of the commercial arm of the WTA, WTA Ventures told Arab News in a recent interview.

“And really, this is part of our strategy of growing women’s tennis as a global sport and really looking to reach new audiences but also inspiring the next generation, helping tennis development and really contributing at the community level.”

The STF has an ambitious goal of inspiring one million people in the Kingdom to take up tennis by 2030.

That aligned well with the WTA’s targets and since June, community programs, spearheaded by Judy Murray, have started taking place in Riyadh.

“What was really good is we sat down with the STF and we were like, ‘okay, we really want something that’s concrete. This needs to have a real impact.’ So we developed a program that is in three pillars: the community tennis and workforce training, which is the bit that Judy is leading for us. The second one is women’s health, and the third piece is youth engagement,” explained Storti.

Murray was recently joined in Riyadh by WTA Finals tournament director, and former world No.1, Garbine Muguruza, where they visited schools, held community clinics, helped train coaches and teachers, and spent time with members of the Zahra Breast Cancer Association.

The women’s health pillar will involve the WTA bringing their ACEing Cancer campaign to the Kingdom, raising awareness and funds for the cause, while the youth engagement pillar is about “supporting local initiatives as much as bringing in new ideas, and it was recently confirmed that we’re working with the Special Olympics in Saudi Arabia towards holding clinics during the Finals,” Storti added.

Staging the WTA Finals in Riyadh will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the Kingdom, where young fans can get acquainted with the sport throughout the three years and perhaps choose to pick up a racquet themselves.

From a tour perspective, there is a lot riding on the success of these Finals.

After a promising start to what was meant to be a decade-long stay in Shenzhen in 2019, and where champion Ashleigh Barty pocketed a record paycheck of $4.42 million, the WTA Finals moved from one city to another — Guadalajara in 2021, Fort Worth in 2022, Cancun in 2023 — without finding a stable footing.

Prize money dwindled, attendance fluctuated, and the lack of a multi-year deal made it difficult to stage the tournament the way it was meant to be, which is the pinnacle of the WTA Tour.

Now with a three-year deal in place with Saudi Arabia, the prize money is back to where it should be, with organizers committing $15.25 million for the first edition, matching the total sum on offer for the men’s equivalent ATP Finals.

“We are at the beginning of a real transformation of women’s tennis,” said Storti.

“We see huge growth opportunity ahead, we’ve had an amazing 51 years but there’s still so much more to build. So it’s about developing tennis as a global sport, creating more opportunities for women to play at the elite level but also creating new markets and new audiences.

“And the fact that Saudi Arabia is a very rapidly growing market for sport and a country with a really young population that is showing an increasing trust in sport, and showing that real appetite to invest in both the elite level and at the grassroots, we think it’s fantastic to be part of that growth.”

The top players have been vocal about the issues they faced at the tournament in the last two years, sharing their discontent both publicly and behind closed doors with the tour’s top management.

These finals in Saudi Arabia are a great opportunity to restore the players’ trust in the WTA and rediscover the luster of the Tour’s crown jewel.

It is why the main focus for the WTA and the STF for these finals is perfecting the player experience.

“It’s one thing that we are working so hard on. Having Garbine Muguruza as the director for the WTA Finals is testament to how important we see the player experience,” said Storti.  

“She obviously won the tournament and she really cares about the players. She can give us the additional perspective at the leadership level and it shows how much of a priority it is.”

Storti has visited the host venue and says each player will have their own private locker room with its own bathroom and amenities. She said the facilities surrounding the main court will be “premium” and is certain the players will be satisfied. The indoor arena will hold a capacity of 4,200 spectators, which can be extended as the tournament grows in upcoming editions.

“We also want the players to have fun outside of the court. We hope that they’ll enjoy the best of Saudi hospitality, there are some amazing restaurants and spas that we will offer to them and I know they’re getting excited,” added Storti.

Muguruza, who officially retired from tennis earlier this year, won the WTA Finals in 2021 and is keen to bring her own perspective into the mix.

“I think that this relationship with the Ministry of Sport, the federation and the WTA, I think it’s great. I’ve been seeing how much they complement each other and I do believe that it’s going to be a great event,” the Spanish two-time Grand Slam champion told Arab News in a recent interview.

“Or at least I know the objective is to make the finals the most glamorous event, the most prestigious event, because I think the players deserve it.

“I’m trying to bring everything that I would like to see if I am a player. I want the players to feel this way because when I used to play I wanted the crowd to be here and the music and I wanted to feel like I’m part of the show, like I own the show.

“I definitely want to make the players feel so happy that when they leave from Riyadh, they’re going to be like, ‘This was a great experience’. I hope they will want to come back and they will be motivated to play the next years, that’s the ultimate goal.”

As spots in the field are rapidly filling up with players securing qualification in these closing weeks before the finals, many of them are excited about the chance to make an impact on the local community in Saudi Arabia.

American Taylor Townsend locked down her qualification in doubles, alongside her partner Katerina Siniakova, and will be making her WTA Finals debut in Riyadh.

“I think it’s such a huge opportunity to be able to bring women’s sports there but also inspire, just with the nature of the culture, it hasn’t always been very inclusive for women; so to be able to be there and represent, especially as a woman of color, I think it would be fantastic, just on a worldwide stage of representation and just showing how things are evolving in the world,” Townsend, the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion, told Arab News.

“So it would mean a lot to me and for me I’d hold it with the most honor and pride.”