Coco Gauff believes bringing the WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia could “open doors” and bring about positive change for women in the country, although the world number three admitted: “I’d be lying to you if I said I had no reservations.”

The WTA has signed a three-year deal with the Saudi Tennis Federation for the season finale in Riyadh, with the first edition kicking off on Saturday at the King Saud University Indoor Arena.

The WTA has come under scrutiny for its decision to move to Saudi Arabia, with critics citing the conservative kingdom’s record on freedom of expression and women’s rights as reasons against the move.

Gauff, 20, admits she had reservations about the idea of ​​hosting the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia and wanted to see for herself what progress was being made.

“Obviously, I am very aware of the situation here in Saudi Arabia. My view on that is that I think sport can have a way of opening doors for people. To want change, you have to see it. I think sport is the easiest way for me to introduce that,” said the American star.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t have reservations. I was at pretty much every player call I could make at the WTA. One of the things I said, if we come here, we can’t just come here and We we have to play our tournament and go. We have to have a real program or a real plan.”

Gauff said the calls included conversations with Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, in which Gauff asked questions about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights in the country.

“In the long run, I think it could be better for everyone,” the American said.

“It’s one of those things where I want to see for myself, see if the change happens. If I felt uncomfortable or like nothing was happening, I probably wouldn’t come back.”

World number one Aryna Sabalenka said she was “very happy” to play a role in bringing women’s tennis to Saudi Arabia and praised the country’s efforts to attract top sporting events.

“I was here last year in a practice match with Ons (Jabeur) and I saw that everything here is quite chilly and for me personally I have no problem playing here,” the Belarusian said.

“The effort they put into women’s sports here is incredible and I’m really impressed. I’m really happy to be here and be part of some kind of history here.”

WTA chief executive Portia Archer defended the tour’s decision to stage the final in Riyadh.

“This is our first time in Riyadh, but we have been in the Middle East for more than 20 years,” Archer said, referring to the WTA tournaments held in Dubai and Doha since 2001.

“We’ve never really had any problems with freedom of speech, at least not that I know of. I don’t expect we will ever have a problem with that as long as we are here in Riyadh.”

When asked whether the WTA’s values ​​align with those of the host country, Archer said: “We respect the values ​​even if they differ from other countries we are in and compete in.”

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