Tennis

Tim Henman Slams ‘Almost Non-Existent’ Crowd At WTA Finals As Just 400 Fans Attend Saudi Arabia Event

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Cai Parry
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Cai Parry Sports Editor

Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.

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Published3 hours ago on November 05, 2024

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Tim Henman

Tim Henman has questioned the decision to stage this year’s WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia after an ‘almost non-existent’ 400 spectators reportedly turned up for the opening weekend.

Former Grand Slam multi-semifinalist Tim Henman has slammed the decision to host this year’s WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after only 400 people reportedly attended the opening weekend of the event.

Despite top female tennis stars such as Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff being on show, less than 10% of the 5,000 seater court at the King Saud University Indoor Arena was filled.

The lack of spectators is especially disappointing given the admission price, with some tickets costing as little as £6.

A record $15.25 million in prize money is up for grabs too, which is a stunning 69.44% increase on last year’s prize pool, however this has done nothing to boost attendance figures.

Tim Henman Slams ‘Extremely Disappointing’ WTA Finals Turnout

Covering the event for Sky Sports, Henman questioned the decision to host the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia after the opening weekend’s poor turnout, claiming that organisers should be doing more to fill the empty seats.

“There’s been plenty of debate over whether sporting events should be coming to Saudi Arabia.

“But if we move past that and just look at this WTA Finals as an event, it’s extremely disappointing when you’ve got the world’s best players – Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff – performing in front of a crowd like that today.

“The organisers here are in a privileged position where they’re not trying to necessarily make money out of the gate receipts.

“So they should get out into the communities and into the schools, because we need spectators here to witness the best players and create that atmosphere.”


The last two WTA Finals have also suffered with poor attendances, however this has largely been put down to the fact that host cities were decided upon last-minute, which made it hard to offload tickets at such a short notice.

“Texas and Cancun were both arranged at the last minute, whereas the announcement of Riyadh came back in April.

“I think the organisers have got to look at the lack of fans. The way that they’ve built the facility and looked after the players has been really impressive.

“But the allocation of tickets – I don’t think you can even call it a ticket sale, when this isn’t really a commercial operation – needs to be taken more seriously. Today, the crowd was almost non-existent.”

The singles tournament is currently at the Group Stage, with the final scheduled to take place on Saturday, and the UK’s best tennis betting sites are favouring Aryna Sabalenka to claim the trophy at the showpiece event.