Coco Gauff gets candid about Saudi Arabia hosting women's sports

Women's sport in Saudi Arabia has been a contentious issue for years due to restrictions on female participation imposed by conservative Islamic authorities. Until 2018, women were not even allowed to attend sporting events as spectators, as they were banned from arenas.

Those barriers are slowly but surely breaking down. 

Last year, the WTA Finals — the most prestigious event on the tennis calendar outside the four majors — was held in Riyadh as part of a three-year deal between the WTA and Saudi Tennis Federation.

The event was a resounding success. 

According to the BBC, the world's eight best women's players "seemed upbeat" about the presentation of the event and their treatment during their stay in Riyadh. It also helped that the tournament offered a record prize money of $15.25M, with the winner, Coco Gauff, walking away with $4.8M — the largest paycheck for a WTA event in history. 

Coco Gauff speaks in favor of Saudi Arabia

As she returns to Riyadh to defend her WTA title, Coco Gauff has shared her two cents on Saudi Arabia hosting women's sports.

"I think sport has the power to do a lot of things and bring people together," Gauff told Arab News. "And [last year] I felt like the energy was there when I was inside the stadium, that everyone was enjoying the tennis and coming together. People from all nationalities attending, some Americans, Chinese, everyone coming. I didn't expect a lot of people to travel for the tournament, honestly. So, I was pretty impressed to see how many people came and I enjoyed the atmosphere."

As part of the three-year deal, the 2026 WTA Finals will also be held in Riyadh. Gauff believes Saudi hosting the tournament for three consecutive years is beneficial because it "builds a culture" and provides women in the country a chance to fall in love with the sport. 

Saudi Arabia still faces opposition

“I definitely think that for Riyadh, it was smart to just do three years, just to test the waters and see how it goes, considering that there was never a women's professional event there," she added. 

Last year, the American star similarly said that "you have to start little by little" for change to happen, while encouraging fans and media members to keep an open mind about traveling to Saudi Arabia.

Not everyone shares Gauff's optimism. Retired legends such as Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova wrote in a scathing op-ed last year that they spent years trying to "empower women in a male-dominated world" only to be "exploited" by Saudi Arabia. 

Tracey Holmes, a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra, accused Saudi Arabia of "sportswashing" itself from countless human rights violations, citing the country landing deals with the ATP, WTA, WWE, FIA and other sporting organizations. 

All that opposition notwithstanding, Saudi Arabia remains a new hub for global sporting events. The country has hosted five consecutive F1 Grand Prix races and will host major events such as the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, 2027 WWE WrestleMania and the 2034 FIFA World Cup in the next decade. The NextGen ATP Finals will also remain in Jeddah.