In a country that is often criticized over its treatment of women, the tennis world debates the pros and cons of holding the elite women’s tournament there.
It took some time before Judy Murray was convinced that going to Saudi Arabia was the right decision. Murray, a professional coach and the mother of a former world No. 1, Andy, and his doubles-specialist brother, Jamie, is a well-known advocate of women’s rights and women’s sports.
But as a community ambassador for the Women’s Tennis Association, Murray’s job is to travel wherever the tour goes and introduce tennis to those who have had limited exposure to it. So she will go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the WTA Finals, which begins on Saturday.
“We have a really big opportunity to make some great things happen over there,” Murray said during a video call last month. “It’s a bit of a blank canvas, and a lot of the things at the grass-roots level are starting from scratch. We’re creating relationships, and once you do that you can make things happen.”
The WTA Finals are the culmination of the yearlong WTA Tour and involve the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams. The singles competitors this year are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, Zheng Qinwen and Barbora Krejcikova.
Sabalenka, who retook the No. 1 ranking from Swiatek two weeks ago, enters as the top seed. Paolini, who is paired in doubles with Sara Errani, is the only player entered in singles and doubles.
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Source: Tennis - nytimes.com
