Daria Kasatkina, previously wary of tennis in Saudi Arabia, will play in Riyadh Tour Finals as alternate

Daria Kasatkina, who has previously voiced concerns about competing in Saudi Arabia as an openly gay tennis player, will feature at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Thursday.

Kasatkina, the Russian world No. 9, is at the event as an alternate and will replace Jessica Pegula of the United States, who withdrew from her final round-robin match against Iga Swiatek with a left knee injury. Pegula, who reached this year’s U.S. Open final, was already eliminated after losing her first two group-stage matches to Barbora Krejcikova and Coco Gauff respectively.

In a news conference at Wimbledon 2023, Kasatkina said that there were “many issues concerning this country” in relation to Saudi Arabia. “It’s easier for the men because they feel pretty good there, let’s say. We don’t feel the same way,” she added.

Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and the WTA has hosted events in countries like Qatar and Dubai, where homosexuality is also illegal, for more than 20 years.

After the WTA and Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) announced their three-year deal for the event, Kasatkina told BBC Sport in April she had “been given guarantees that I’m going to be fine.

“As long as it gives the opportunity to the people there, and the young kids and the women to actually see the sport — so that they can watch it, they can play it, they can participate in this, I think it’s great.”

Kasatkina’s view aligns with LGBTQ+ and tennis icon Billie Jean King, who was influential in the founding of the WTA Tour. She was an advocate for the Finals taking place in Riyadh despite the country’s human rights record regarding women and the criminalization of homosexuality.

“I’m a huge believer in engagement — I don’t think you change unless you engage,” King said at a WTA anniversary event in 2023.

However, Martina Navratilova told earlier this year that “bigger changes need to happen first before we go there. I can’t go there and announce that I am gay. People say, well, just behave. But what does that mean?”

Kasatkina will face Swiatek as the latter bids to qualify for the semifinals, needing a win against the Russian and for Gauff to defeat Krejcikova. Pegula, who said in a news conference on Wednesday that she has been “kind of struggling with an injury” which flared up in Riyadh, has also withdrawn from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals which begin November 13.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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