Saudi Arabia deal for WTA Finals still on the cards despite merger rumours

Saudi Arabia’s deal for WTA Finals is still on the cards despite failing to find an agreement for this year’s competition.

The Finals is the last major event of the WTA calendar year and is scheduled to take place in October.

The tournament was set to be organised in Japan this year but rumours suggested that the event might be shifted to Saudia Arabia.

However, as per the latest report, the competition will not take place this year in the Middle Eastern country.

Despite that development, negotiations between the Saudi sports authorities and WTA representatives continued which is likely to see the competition taking place in the Middle Eastern country for some years to come.

The report quoted a source which suggested that there is a '99 percent' chance that Saudi Arabia will become the new home for the WTA Finals for the four years starting from 2024.

The step is seen by many as Saudi Arabia’s first major move towards investing in tennis.

The oil-rich country has become very active in investing in different sporting activities in the recent past.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested heavily in golf which led to the merger of the PGA Tour and Liv Golf in June earlier this year.

The PIF also bought the English Premier League football club Newcastle United. The state-backed sovereign fund also strengthened the football clubs in the country to participate in the Saudi Pro League.

All the clubs went on to sign big-name players from different European leagues including the likes of Portuguese legendary striker Cristian Ronaldo.