Coco Gauff didn’t enjoy her last two WTA Finals experiences but hopes for a better one this year, which will be the first time the WTA Finals will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This year’s WTA Finals might be a bit controversial simply because they will be held in Saudi Arabia. Many tennis players, pundits, and former players have issues with this due to concerns about the country’s human rights record and equality index.
For Gauff, it’s an experience she hopes will be positive. The last two WTA Finals weren’t very good. Her first WTA Finals experience was in Fort Worth, in the United States, in a part of the country where tennis isn't very popular. The stands were empty throughout the event, which was a bad look.
Last time, the event was held in Cancun, Mexico, which is a great place for vacation but probably not ideal for playing tennis, even though the Mexican crowd did show up in solid numbers. The weather was the main issue, as November isn’t the best time of year in Cancun.
The event was battered by rain and storms, which didn’t go down well with anyone. Gauff had to play in the rain, which she certainly doesn’t count among her top memories. The hope is that this year’s event in Riyadh ends up being better, as she said when talking about the WTA Finals at the 2024 US Open.
"Yeah, hopefully it's a good finals. My last two experiences have not been the best, honestly speaking, with the last two times. But, yeah, we've been speaking really in contact with leaders from Saudi and also WTA and having a lot of player meetings to make sure it's a great experience for us players and fans, and they have a lot of community outreach things planned."
Gauff is a player who often speaks about her responsibility as a player. Being a player is part of her career, but also being a role model is something she takes very seriously.
In that sense, she's excited about a chance to bring tennis to a community that hasn't seen much of it in the past. Women's sports are booming in Saudi Arabia, and Gauff hopes to go there and inspire future generations to pursue tennis as a sport.
"Just trying to bring more, I guess, awareness to the sport for the girls and guys out there in Saudi. Yeah, I'm looking forward too. I feel like in order to I guess enact a dream or for a kid to see a dream, they have to see it in person. Obviously you guys all saw that video of me a long time ago here."
While there will be no shortage of controversy regarding the event, Gauff looks at the bright side, hoping that the event will have a proper impact on people. If one person gets inspired to become an athlete, then the 2023 US Open winner would feel very good about it.
"Hopefully I guess the goal for this to come out and a lot of the people are hoping that there is a player or a kid that comes out from Saudi and able to say, ‘This WTA Finals changed my outlook or made me realize I had a dream or a possibility in this sport.’"
"I think that's what tennis is all about. Yeah. it's great to kind of reach parts of the world and bring our community there too."
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