WTA Finals to be held in Cancun

The 2023 edition of the WTA Finals will be held in Cancun, Mexico from Oct. 29-Nov. 5 under a one-year agreement, the women's tennis body announced on Thursday, ending speculation that this year's event could be held in Saudi Arabia.

The season-ending tournament, which features the top eight singles players and doubles teams, returns to Mexico after one year, with the 2021 edition taking place in Guadalajara.

"This edition of the WTA Finals will provide a fantastic experience for players and fans alike, offer a fitting finale for the 2023 WTA Tour, and enable us to continue building a strong future for women's tennis," said Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO.

After the men's ATP Tour announced last month that the Next Gen Finals would be held in Jeddah from 2023 to 2027, social media had been awash with rumours that the WTA Finals could also be headed to Saudi Arabia.

Simon previously said that the Gulf state presented "big issues" as a host for women's tour events, as Saudi Arabia's record on women's and LGBTQ rights has led to accusations of "sports-washing."

But the tour declined to deny outright recent rumours that the WTA Finals could go to Saudi Arabia in the future and said that no decision had been made yet.

Tunisian world number five Ons Jabeur, the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final, had backed the idea as a way of bringing more Arab women into tennis.

Retired great and current ESPN analyst Chris Evert told reporters last month that she would prefer the WTA not to go to the Middle Eastern country.

The 2021 tournament was held in Guadalajara instead of Shenzhen, China after the WTA removed the Asian swing of tournaments from its calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament was set to return to