The vast number of empty seats on the first two days of the WTA Finals led to renewed debate about whether hosting such a significant tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the right decision. Iga Swiatek gave her thoughts about the issue after her opening match.
Human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia are why some would prefer that a different country host the WTA Finals. Saudi Arabia's treatment of women and LGBTQ people especially creates concerns.
The players were asked about that issue before the event began. Coco Gauff gave a particularly thoughtful answer, admitting she has reservations about playing in Saudi Arabia but hopes it could inspire more equality.
Gauff was the player who expressed the most concern. Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula have no issues with competing in the Gulf country, with Sabalenka praising the effort Saudi Arabia makes when hosting sports events.
However, another fear before the tournament began was the possibility of sparse crowds because tennis is not a big sport in Saudi Arabia. That applies particularly to women's tennis.
Those fears were realized on the opening days of the 2024 WTA Finals. The first day, which featured Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, saw some empty seats inside the King Saud University Indoor Arena.
The attendance figures were much worse on the second day. It is estimated that no more than a few hundred spectators were in the crowd despite the arena's capacity of up to 3,000.
Although a few empty seats might have been expected since the second day was on a Sunday, that does not fully explain the dismal crowd numbers for one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
Swiatek's terrific comeback against Barbora Krejcikova was one of the matches on Sunday. Coco Gauff played and defeated her frequent doubles partner Jessica Pegula on the same day.
In her press conference after the match, Swiatek said that crowd sizes would likely be higher over the weekend during a careful answer that was not disrespectful to the host nation. She also thinks the smaller crowd suited her after not playing for nearly two months.
"I think it was also comfortable for me because it was my first match after a break, so the fact it wasn’t super crazy also made it easier kind of for me."
"I think there’s gonna be more crowd [across the week]. I guess today is the first working day because they have their weekend on Friday and Saturday, so we’ll see how it’s going to go in the next days."
Krejcikova also refused to criticize the crowd size after losing to Swiatek. The Wimbledon champion praised those who did attend for creating a nice atmosphere and said they supported players.
"I think it was nice. I mean, there weren’t that many fans, but I think they made a nice atmosphere, and they were rooting for both of us, and it was nice."
Hopefully, attendance will dramatically increase during the remaining days of the tournament. It feels strange having the best female tennis players in the world play in front of small crowds.