Billie Jean King confident Saudi interest will help women's tennis conquer new frontiers

WTA founder Billie Jean King is certain the women’s and men’s tennis tours will soon be doing business with Saudi Arabia and the American legend believes the move can have a positive impact on both the sport and the kingdom.

Steve Simon, the president of the WTA, visited Riyadh along with a couple of players and board representatives back in February and said the tour is still evaluating the possibility of staging tournaments in Saudi Arabia, or conducting other business there.

King, a fierce advocate for women’s sport and gender equality, says she is a strong believer in engagement, and that she would be keen to go to Saudi Arabia and see for herself the progress happening there on the ground.

“I’m sure they (the tours) will (go to Saudi Arabia). I think they will,” King told The National at the WTA’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Gloucester hotel in London on Friday.

“There’s a lot of money, which is very important to keep having money to help the players, but also help run the WTA, run the ATP and all that.

“I think the only way people change is engagement. If you don’t meet people and you don’t discuss and you don’t ask for new things to happen, they don’t. So it’s really important that we help the change to make things more equal for everyone. I’m huge on engagement.”

Billie Jean King on the possibility of the WTA going into business with Saudi Arabia:"I’m a huge believer in engagement. I don’t think you really change unless you engage." pic.twitter.com/1SY9xvFeq8

When King founded the Women’s Tennis Association 50 years ago, one of the core principles was to give any girl or woman tennis player who was good enough the opportunity to compete.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion says it’s important for young girls