RIYADH: The season-ending WTA Finals will be held in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh from 2024-2026, the women’s tennis body said on Thursday.
Riyadh will host the season finale — which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams — from Nov. 2 to 9 and replaces last year’s hosts Cancun, Mexico.
The WTA said its agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation will offer record prize money of $15.25 million this year with further increases in 2025 and 2026.
“To have a women’s tournament of this magnitude and profile is a defining moment for tennis in Saudi Arabia. The WTA Finals has the power to inspire far beyond the sport, especially for our young girls and women,” the Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki told Reuters.
Talk that the event could be shifted to Saudi Arabia had intensified after the men’s ATP Tour said last August its Next Gen Finals would be held in Jeddah from 2023 to 2027.
“The WTA selected Riyadh following a comprehensive evaluation process over several months, which has included assessment of multiple bids from different regions and engagement with players,” it said in a statement.
Rafael Nadal was named ambassador of the Saudi tennis federation with plans also in the pipeline for a training academy.
The men’s ATP tour also signed a multi-year “strategic partnership” with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is now the official naming partner of the men’s rankings.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports like soccer, Formula One and golf in the last few years.
WTA chief Steve Simon said last year that Saudi Arabia presented “big issues” as a host for women’s tour events but also acknowledged the progress it had made and continued to engage with players.
“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,” Simon said.
“We’ve been impressed by the commitment shown by the Saudi Tennis Federation to grow the sport at all levels.”
World number one Iga Swiatek and Caroline Wozniacki said at the Australian Open that engagement offered the chance to spark positive change.
There has been pushback from greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova saying the WTA’s values were in stark contrast to those of Saudi Arabia and holding the event there would not represent progress but “significant regression.”
But the country’s ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar said the criticism represented stereotypical and western-centric views.
The tournament was looking at a long future in Shenzhen, China, when the WTA held the 2019 edition of the Finals there with a prize pot of $14 million after the Asian city saw off rival bids to secure a 10-year deal.
However, China’s response to the COVID pandemic forced the event to be canceled the following year and it was shifted to Guadalajara, Mexico in 2021.
It did not return to Shenzhen in 2022 as expected after the WTA suspended its billion-dollar business in China amid concerns over the treatment of former doubles number one Peng Shuai.
The WTA eventually resumed operations in China last year.
Fort Worth, Texas hosted the 2022 tournament, drawing sparse crowds and the WTA was expected to shift it to Saudi Arabia last year before naming Cancun as the venue less than two months from the start.
That edition was criticized by Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who said that she felt “disrespected” by the standard of organization, prompting Simon to send a letter to players admitting the event was “not perfect.”
WTA Finals to be held in Saudi Arabia from 2024-2026 with record prize money
https://arab.news/95h5q
WTA Finals to be held in Saudi Arabia from 2024-2026 with record prize money
- Riyadh will host the season finale — which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams — from Nov. 2 to 9
- Saudi Tennis Federation will offer record prize money of $15.25 million this year
Mid East Falcons and Mumbai Cobras to meet in historic United Series in Dubai
- The league’s top 2 teams collide in a best-of-3 series this weekend at Baseball United Ballpark in Dubai
DUBAI: The Mid East Falcons and Mumbai Cobras face-off on Friday night at Baseball United Ballpark in the United Series, the sport’s first regional championship.
Both teams finished tied atop the Baseball United season one standings with 6-3 records. However, Mumbai will start and close game three, if necessary, as the home team, since they finished first in the standings after winning the head-to-head series.
The Cobras are the first professional baseball team in the history of India. They represent nearly 30 million people in Mumbai and 1.5 billion people in India, the majority of whom are fans of bat-and-ball games, with cricket the nation’s top sport.
Baseball United has reached tens of millions of those fans this year through broadcasts on several of the network’s linear channels as well as the Zee 5 app.
The Mid East Falcons represent the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, and they have quickly grown both a regional following across the GCC, as well as a global fanbase in Japan.
More than half of the Falcons’ roster is made up of Japanese players, including Nippon Professional League legends Munenori Kawasaki and Hiroyuki Nakajima.
The team also has young prospects from the Yokohama Bay Stars, one of Japan’s top professional baseball teams, adding to its appeal within that baseball-loving nation.
Locally, the Falcons have drawn the largest attendance for each of their games at Baseball United Ballpark, with attendees from more than 50 nationalities coming to support the Mid East team.
“This is the United Series matchup that fans across the world were craving,” said Kash Shaikh, chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Baseball United.
“We have Mumbai vs. Mid East, the two top teams from the regular season who have rosters full of talent, character, and personality. The Falcons are both the UAE’s team and Japan’s team.
“The Cobras represent 1.5 billion people in India. All three nations, as well as fans across the baseball world, will be watching closely as we crown our first-ever United Series Champion this weekend.”
The United Series is a best-of-three championship contest. After Friday’s opening game, games two and three will follow on Saturday and Sunday.
The Falcons are managed by Dennis Cook, a 15-year MLB veteran who won a World Series title with the Florida Marlins in 1997. Cook has been a part of Baseball United since its inaugural showcase games in November 2023.
“Baseball United’s leadership team has done an outstanding job to get us to this point,” Cook said. “We are very excited to play against Mariano (Duncan) and the Mumbai Cobras, and we are very focused on becoming the first Baseball United champions in history.”
Cook has had a unique challenge of managing a roster in which the majority of the players do not communicate in English.
“We are a very diverse team, it’s been great to work with the Japanese kids. I admire them and I like the way we communicate. I don’t speak Japanese, but we have our own way to communicate and it has been a lot of fun.”
The Falcons led the league in both batting (.271 BA) and pitching (2.25 ERA) as a team, and nearly swept the league’s regular season awards, with Kazuki Yabuta (Best Pitcher), Manato Tanai (Best Fielder), Munenori Kawasaki (Clubhouse Award), and Alejandro De Aza (Sportsmanship).
In addition, Nakajima has been atop the league leaders in batting (.400) throughout the year. LHP Shuto Sakurai will be the starting pitcher for game one of the United Series.
Brantley Bell (.441 BA, 1.213 OPS), the star third baseman from the Cobras, won the league’s first-ever Most Valuable Player Award. In addition to Bell, Caleb McNeely (3 HRs, 10 RBIs, .688 SLG), Lou Helmig (2 HR, 10 RBIs) and Miguel Ojeda Jr. (2 HR, 8 RBIs) led the Cobras’ batting attack.
The Mumbai bullpen was also solid all year behind Akeel Morris (0.00 ERA) and LHP Brandon Kaminer (0.00 ERA), who together have accumulated 18.0 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts.
In addition, there are three Indian-born pitchers who have caused a sensation in their country: Akshay More, Tushar Lalwani and Saurabh Gaikwad.
More is 2-0 with 11.1 innings pitched and a 1.59 ERA. Karan Patel, the franchise’s No. 1 starter, will take the mound to start the United Series on Friday night. Patel has 14 strikeouts in 10.1 innings.
Duncan, a 12-year MLB veteran who won two World Series Championships, manages the Mumbai Cobras. He has also been a part of Baseball United since the Dubai Showcase in 2023.
“It’s been an honor to be part of Baseball United. The first season has been an amazing experience, I’m so proud to be part of this history.
“This team has a great chemistry and passion for the game of baseball, but we also have good batting, good pitching, power and speed, and we are going to close strong to make history this weekend.”
