Wertheim: WTA finals moving to Saudi Arabia 'controversial,' more money for players

Veteran tennis reporter Jon Wertheim said the news of the WTA moving its year-end finals tournament to Saudi Arabia was “really controversial in a way,” but it is an “infusion of cash to women’s tennis.” Wertheim said, “Clearly somebody made a business decision. A lot of people have problems with it. … Now we are going to a country that ranks, I think it's, 131 out of 146 on the gender gap.” “Served with Andy Roddick” co-host Andy Roddick said that the “global market has spoken back and it has not been good news” for the WTA. After deciding to pull out of China, Roddick said the league had a “dumpster fire of a WTA Finals in Dallas and a dumpster fire of a WTA Finals in Cancun.” He added the move to Saudi Arabia is a “reaction to the markets, speaking to the powers that be at the WTA over the last two years.” Roddick: “This event on its own has not shown strength over the last two years. Simply, the last two years, the WTA finals has not been a product that the global market has been falling over itself to go put together an organized, structured event.” Wertheim added that the issues in China put the WTA “in a bad position” when looking for a new deal, but he thought “there were other options for the WTA” outside of Saudi Arabia, but the three-year deal was “smart” by the league. He added he thought the three-year deal was a way for the WTA to say they have “an out” on Saudi Arabia (“Served” 4/9).