Saudi Arabia to Host WTA Finals From 2024–2026
2024 WTA Finals to have record prize money of $15.25 million in Riyadh
Posted On: April 4, 2024 By :Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will host the next three editions of the WTA Finals from 2024–2026, following the announcement Thursday of a new agreement between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation.
The 2024 season-ending finals will take place between November 2–9, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams. The agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation will offer record prize money of $15.25 million in 2024 with further increases in 2025 and 2026.
Locations in Europe, North America and Asia also were considered as possible new sites for the WTA Finals according to The Associated Press. The cities that hosted in 2022 (Fort Worth, Texas) and 2023 (Cancun, Mexico) were not revealed until September each year.
“Bringing the WTA Finals to Riyadh is an exciting new opportunity for us and a positive step for the long-term growth of women’s tennis as a global and inclusive sport,” said Steve Simon, WTA chairman and chief executive officer. “We’ve been impressed by the commitment shown by the Saudi Tennis Federation to grow the sport at all levels and we have no doubt that players and fans can look forward to a world-class event in Riyadh as the finale to the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.”
The choice of Riyadh to host the WTA Finals builds on the WTA’s presence of more than 20 years in the Middle East. The partnership comes at a time of significant growth of sport in Saudi Arabia, with overall participation levels more than tripling since 2015 to almost 50 percent. The Saudi Tennis Federation hosted the country’s first official professional tennis tournament in November 2023 with the Next Gen ATP Finals taking place in Jeddah.
“Hosting the WTA Finals is absolutely huge for the future of tennis in Saudi Arabia and growing sport in general, especially amongst our young girls,” said Arij Mutabagani, president of the Saudi Tennis Federation and the first elected female president of any Saudi Arabian sports federation. “And that’s entirely our focus, to inspire future generations of players and celebrate women’s tennis.”
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post in January, Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova urged the WTA to stay out of Saudi Arabia because, they wrote, staging the Finals there “would represent not progress, but significant regression” and asked whether “staging a Saudi crown-jewel tournament would involve players in an act of sportswashing merely for the sake of a cash influx.”
“This multi-year partnership expands the WTA’s presence in the Middle East and brings us to a country with huge potential for growth, as well as supporting our ambitious plans to accelerate the global development and progress of women’s tennis,” said Marina Storti, chief executive officer of WTA Ventures, the WTA’s commercial division. “We’re looking forward to working with the Saudi Tennis Federation over the coming years to grow the WTA Finals, create more fans and inspire more people to play our brilliant sport.”
Posted in: Latest News, Sports Organizations, Tennis, Women's Sports