Former British number one
Tim Henman believes that crowd
presence during the ongoing
WTA Finals has been ‘disappointing’. The mega-event,
which is the last in the women’s tennis calendar, is currently taking place in
the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It is the first time that such a mega-event is being hosted
by the Middle-Eastern giant. The tournament has been a talking point ever since
it was announced that it would be organised in Saudi Arabia for the next three
years. Many people in the West argued that Saudi Arabia’s heavy investment in
sports is to clear its image, which has remained under scrutiny for a long time
because of the human rights situation.
Despite all those apprehensions, the tournament went ahead
as planned, where eight top women players were battling to secure the ultimate
prize. Britain’s former number one Henman has recently spoken to Sky Sports, as
quoted by The Tennis Gazette, where he expressed his disappointment about the
lack of crowd presence in the arena. The 50-year-old was of the opinion that
such low crowds are not doing justice to a tournament as big as the WTA Finals.
“I think it’s just been disappointing,” he said. “The way
the event has been hosted, you look at the stadium courts, it’s absolutely
fantastic, all the facilities, practice courts, restaurants, they’ve laid it
all on. So, it’s just a little bit frustrating, and I think disappointing for
the top eight players in the world that we haven’t had a better atmosphere. The
first day was OK, which was part of the Saudi weekend, but yesterday, to have
300-400 in the crowd when you’ve got a 5,000 seater stadium, it just doesn’t
create the atmosphere that these great players deserve. A lot of the players
who were here have been talking about change, and part of the reason they’re
here is to bring about change.”