Muguruza, WTA Finals director: "Tennis is not an important sport in Saudi Arabia"

Le 07/11/2024 à 12h25 par Guillem Casulleras Punsa

Officially retired from professional tennis since April, Garbiñe Muguruza has been quick to begin her reconversion. The former world No.1, winner of the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon, is playing the role of tournament director at this week's WTA Finals in Riyadh.

The 31-year-old Spaniard is in a privileged position to observe the current state of tennis in Saudi Arabia. And her observation is clear: it is not one of the leading sports, far from it, and is still very little followed and practiced.

The fact that there were so few spectators in the stands for the group stages of the WTA Finals gave us an idea of this. Muguruza confirmed this impression in an interview with Saudi media outlet The National.

Garbiñe Muguruza: "I notice that tennis is not a very strong sport in the country. I think it's going to undergo a certain upheaval with all the tournaments, activities and influence. I hope this tournament (the WTA Finals) will inspire people to play tennis and get motivated."

WTA Finals

Tableau

Garbiñe Muguruza

Non classé

1

That's not true "the tennis is not important". During men's exhibition recently the stadium was full of people and tickets were really expensive.

Are woven even allowed to pay tennis there?

She is quite right. All the empty seats are probably purchased by fat millionaires who then don't bother to show up.

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