Saudi Arabia is starting to eye tennis as its next sport to invest in, and one American star thinks it could be helpful for the sport.
Jessica Pegula, currently World No. 4 on the WTA, says the influx of money from Saudi Arabia could help women achieve bridge the gap in prize money between men and women in tennis.
"If they (Saudi Arabia) could help getting us to equal prize money, though there are negatives, there's a lot of positives that can come out of it," Pegula said, according to Reuters. "Hopefully we don't just look at the negatives and we can see the positives. Hopefully something good comes out of it the right way."
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Pegula, whose parents are the owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is a member of the WTA Player council.
WTA and ATP players currently receive equal prize money for the sport’s four Grand Slams: The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, which is currently ongoing, and the US Open. But the prize money is drastically different for the non-Grand Slam tournaments, which there are dozens of every year.
Last month, ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi first said that he had discussion with Saudi’s Public Investment Fund on potential partnerships that could involve tennis infrastructure, events, and technology. He told the Financial Times that he had “positive” discussions with the Saudi PIF.
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There are a lot of voices that seem to be in favor of women’s tennis engaging with the Saudis, including legend Billie Jean King.
“I’m a huge believer in engagement -- I don’t think you change unless you engage,” King said at a WTA event a few weeks ago.
King’s comments come amid Saudi’s notable human rights transgressions, particularly against the LGBTQ+ community. Several members of the WTA are openly gay, including King.
But there are still some who are skeptical of the entry of Saudi to the sport, such as three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray who had passed on exhibition events in Saudi in the past.
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