Andy Murray once again reiterated his stance regarding a possible tennis event in Saudi Arabia confirming once again that he wouldn't play.
The British player has been a very proud and self-declared feminist. Brough up by a strong mother, Murray always held a deep admiration for women becoming one of the first players to have a woman as a coach in tennis, a move that was believe it or not controversial at the time.
Amalie Mauresmo and Murray worked for a while but then parted ways with the former player coaching Lucas Pouille later on as well. The human rights record in Saudi Arabia is not ideal with women particularly not enjoying some of the freedoms.
Murray is not supportive of it and he wouldn't play at the event given the chance. He was asked about it in light of the surprising move of the PGA Tour (Golf) to merge with the Suadi-backed LIV Tour.
I wouldn't play [in Saudi Arabia], no. If I was one of the golfers who stuck with the PGA, I would probably be a bit frustrated and feel a bit let down. I guess there have been lots of different sporting events there over the last few years. There have been a lot of major boxing fights have been there, there's the golf, I think there was a Formula One race there too.
The country has been accused of sportswashing in recent years using a colossal amount of money to buy their way into popular sports. Many sports took the money with rumours of tennis stagging more events there in the future. We've already seen some exhibition events like the Diriyah Tennis Cup held there with the likes of Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitispas, and many others playing there.
Murray assumes more is coming in the future because the country is spending an incredible amount of money which most sports and most athletes find very hard to turn down. Even with the stigma that comes with taking that money.
The Brit wouldn't but he's made plenty in his career already. Some of that might come this week in Surbiton where he already scored two wins. It comes as part of his Wimbledon prep as he fins himself one of the better players on grass.
I would imagine it will only be a matter of time before we see tennis tournaments played there too. I saw it this morning, I don't really know genuinely any of the details apart from the tweets I saw. I want to see a little bit more about what that means and what that looks like.
0 Comments