Andy Roddick has aired his take on the dismal attendance numbers reported from the 2024 WTA Finals. The prestigious year-end event is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time this year, with the next two editions also set to be organized there.
At the start of the year, the WTA announced that it had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to make Riyadh the host city for the WTA Finals from 2024 to 2026. The announcement stirred controversy, with many opposing it.
Now that the event has finally started, details emerge about how games have failed to draw crowds. For instance, on Sunday, November 3, a day that saw reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek and reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova clash, only 400 people showed up at the King Saud University Indoor Arena. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula were also in action on that day.
Former ATP World No. 1 Andy Roddick said during an episode of the "Served With Andy Roddick" podcast that the WTA should tap into new markets such as Saudi Arabia to ensure fair pay for its players. He cited the example of current WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
"Should Sabalenka be making less because another market isn't stepping up to the plate financially?" Andy Roddick asked [at 20:03].
The 2003 US Open champion reflected on how the nature of sporting events has changed. There was a time when such events were dependent on crowds. However, according to Roddick, those times are gone, even though he was concerned to a certain degree about the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
"And do not base the success of an event based on who's there. A 100 (people in the crowd) is startling. Right. But if it was sold 80 percent through, then great," Andy Roddick said.
The 42-year-old acknowledged that playing in front of crowds can help motivate players:
"People in the seats is great for atmosphere. It's great for the players because you want to feel that buzz, you want to feel that it's an important event."
Roddick also criticized the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event held in the Saudi Arabian capital, on a previous podcast episode.
Andy Roddick was not impressed by the Six Kings Slam; called it "unnatural" and "weird"
The inaugural edition of the Six Kings Slam exhibition event featured Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. The tournament made headlines because of its prize purse, which made sports history; $1.5 million for each player simply for turning up, and a further $6 million for the winner. World No. 1 Sinner won the event, taking home $7.5 million.
Despite the lucrative nature of the event, Andy Roddick was far from impressed with what he saw. The former World No. 1 was particularly irked by the participating players dancing at the tournament's official party. According to Roddick, the players had to participate for the money they got paid.
"Listen, someone's going to pay you that amount of money and you have to go do awkward dancing. The whole thing looked completely unnatural. It just looked weird. I had no interest in it. Even the Novak and Rafa thing, I don’t know, it felt fine, felt like an exhibition but without the charm of a Laver Cup where you’re seeing the interactions between players and the legends get brought back," Andy Roddick said.
Several noted tennis personalities, including Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, felt that Saudi Arabia's government is investing big money in sports to improve the country's image. Navratilova and Evert had previously urged the WTA to reconsider any potential move to Saudi Arabia before its deal with the PIF was struck.