Tim Henman questions the Saudi Arabian WTA Finals after disappointing attendance on the opening weekend.

There has been a lot of backlash over the WTA’s decision to hold its first tournament in Saudi Arabia, which has a history of suppressing women’s rights.

But Henman has another problem with the tournament: the lack of crowd participation.

The second day of the WTA Finals saw the five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek We stormed back to beat Barbora Krejcikova earlier Coco Gauff He met Jessica Pegula. Olympic gold medalists Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani also competed in doubles.

But according to TelegramOnly 400 people showed up to watch the world’s best female tennis players in action on the 5,000-seat court at the King Saud University Indoor Arena. The low attendance was particularly suspicious given that the cheapest tickets cost £6.

Big money is at stake in Saudi Arabia’s first official tour-level event – a record prize fund of £11.5 million ($15 million) is on offer – and the hosts need not worry about making a profit from the tournament.

Henman is in Riyadh this week to cover the Sky Sports tournament. And he questioned organizers for not taking action to fill the seats. “There has been a lot of discussion about whether sporting events should come to Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“But if we go beyond that and look at the WTA Finals as just an event, it is extremely disappointing that you have the best players in the world. Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff – I will be performing in front of such a crowd today.

“The organizers here are in a privileged position as they are not trying to make money from the proceeds of entry.

“That’s why they should go into communities and schools because we need spectators here to witness the best players and create that atmosphere.”

This isn’t the first time crowd attendance at the WTA Finals has been questioned. For the past two years, the women’s tennis team has had to find a last-minute host city for their end-of-season championships and has struggled to sell tickets on short notice.

But former world No. 4 player Henman believes Riyadh edition organizers have no excuse. He continued: “Texas and Cancun were both booked at the last minute,” Henman said. “Yet Riyadh’s announcement came in April.

“I think the organizers need to take into consideration the lack of fans. “The way they built the facility and looked after the players was really impressive.

“But the allocation of tickets – you can’t even call it ticket sales unless it’s actually a commercial operation – needs to be taken more seriously. “The crowd today was almost non-existent.”

Although the WTA Finals are the first high-profile professional tennis tournament to be held in the Kingdom, the Saudis already have some experience in the sport. The Next Generation ATP Finals, featuring the best male players aged 20 and under, were held in Jeddah last year.

The following names take part in Six Kings Slam: Novak Djokovic And Rafael NadalIt was held over three days in Riyadh in October. The star-studded exhibition event managed to attract crowds.