Homosexuality is illegitimate in Saudi Arabia, whereas Amnesty Worldwide has cited the nation’s “jailing of ladies’s rights activists, suppression of free speech and rampant use of the loss of life penalty”.
BBC Sport requested all eight singles gamers the identical query: “Did you personally have any reservations or considerations about coming right here given the report on human rights, significantly round ladies’s rights and the LGBTQ+ group?”
The responses have been diverse, though there was the sense that gamers felt free to talk with out concern of repercussions. Many stated they hoped they may assist result in change.
A number of referenced calls that had taken place between gamers and the WTA, with Jessica Pegula – a member of the WTA’s participant council – saying there was “loads of debate forwards and backwards”.
Zheng Qinwen, Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini all steered showcasing top-level ladies’s sport may very well be instance inside Saudi Arabia.
Swiatek stated she was attempting to “observe and learn the way every thing works”, whereas Sabalenka stated: “I noticed every thing right here is sort of chill.
“Me personally, I haven’t got any points taking part in right here. I believe it is actually necessary to carry tennis all world wide and encourage [the] younger technology.”
Gauff’s response drew on her household’s expertise of the transfer away from racial segregation in the USA.
“Figuring out from the previous from my grandmother, integrating her college, individuals aren’t going to love it, however in the long term I believe it may very well be higher for everyone,” she stated.
However the 20-year-old added: “If I felt uncomfortable or felt like nothing’s occurring, then possibly I most likely would not come again.”