WTA to announce Saudi Arabia as the location for the year-end championships from 2024-26 at the upcoming Finals in Cancun: Reports

Several fans and Tennis legend are unhappy with WTA's decision to potentially host the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

WTA to announce Saudi Arabia as the location for the year-end championships from 2024-26 at the upcoming Finals in Cancun: Reports

WTA Finals (Source: WTA)

According to multiple sources, the WTA was going to use the 2023 Final in Cancun to announce that its year-end event, i.e., the WTA Final, will be held in Saudi Arabia between 2024 and 2026. However, the current geopolitical scenario between Israel and Palestine has caused quite a stir in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. Thus, it will be interesting to see if WTA still decides to announce it at the Cancun event. 

It is a pretty significant event in women’s tennis. In fact, it is the most important event after the four Grand Slams and thus, many fans are not supportive of the fact that they will conduct the event in Saudi Arabia, as it is still considered to be a pretty ‘regressive’ state, especially for women. 

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The war between Israel and Palestine is at a pretty sensitive point right now. Moreover, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, stated recently that his nation stands “By the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights to a decent life, achieve their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace.” 

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Given the fact that the USA is siding with Israel in the war (as of now), it will be interesting to see whether the WTA changes its decision to let Saudi Arabia host the event. 

Initial confusion in selecting the host nation for the 2023 WTA Final 

WTA
WTA (Source: WTA)

The issue of location for the WTA Finals has been quite raging this season. The confusion over location led to many pros including Iga Swiatek complaining about the scheduling issues as WTA failed to come to a conclusion. Cancun was picked at the last moment with the stadium still not built while the tournament comes close to under a month.

Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic were interested in hosting the 2023 Final itself and they had reportedly submitted lucrative offers too. However, after particular ire from former players like John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova over the possibility of the WTA Finals being held in Saudi Arabia, the WTA decided otherwise. 

Mexico has had a good record of organizing WTA events. The recently played Guadalajara Open was a huge success. It must be noted that the 2021 WTA Finals, which were the first WTA Finals after COVID-19, were also successfully hosted by Guadalajara. Thus, they went with the safe option of hosting the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. 

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