WTA Finals 2024: Draw and preview as Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff lead the field in Saudi Arabia

Former Grand Slam champions Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova said moving the WTA finals to Saudi Arabia was a “step backwards” for women's tennis.

Critics of Saudi Arabia accuse the oil-rich kingdom of using its wealth to invest in sport to improve its image – known as “sportswashing”.

The country has recently invested heavily in golf, Formula 1, football and boxing.

The state is under intensive international observation. Critics emphasize that women's rights are still restricted and homosexuality is illegal.

The WTA Finals is the first major tour-level tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia.

WTA chief executive Portia Archer said the organization was “satisfied” with its decision to host the event in Saudi Arabia.

“We often play in environments and in countries with different customs, different cultures and in some cases different value systems than me or the WTA,” she said.

“We make sure to respect these local customs. We may not always agree with some of the policies in force in a particular country.”

All players were asked about the competition in the country on the media day of the tournament.

World number three Gauff said she had some reservations.

“Firstly, as far as the LGBTQ+ community is concerned, for me it is always a community that I will fight for. I understand your concerns,” she said.

“I really feel that in order to initiate change, you have to start one step at a time. That’s how I was taught, growing up Black in America and knowing our history.”

“If we shied away from that back then, where would we be now? The same message applies to women too.”

“Obviously I’m a woman. I was very worried. My father was very worried about me coming here.”

Top-ranked Sabalenka said it was “important to bring tennis to the whole world”.

“The effort they put into women’s sports here is incredible. I’m really impressed,” she said.

“I’m really happy to be here and to be part of some kind of history here.”