“Even the girls who were at the ball totally freaked out when they saw us”

Pegula, an unusually enterprising player whose billionaire parents own the Buffalo Bills, among other major American sports franchises, added: “You now have 60,000 girls playing tennis in schools. Even the ball girls were thrilled when they saw us at the hotel and asked for autographs. When you see that you’re making a difference in these girls’ lives, I think that takes precedence over what you want to accomplish.”

In addition to the events already held, Saudi Arabia has also participated in both tours through a brand sponsorship deal supporting Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Meanwhile, the ATP board has spent much of the last year trying to find space in an already crowded calendar for another Masters 1000 event to be held in Riyadh. A report on Saturday said commercial terms have finally been agreed, with the event scheduled to begin in either 2027 or 2028.

In the structure of both tours, the Players Council elects three representatives to the board (in the WTA's case it is now Julia Boserup, Anja Vreg and Kurt Zumwalt) and then leads their vote on decisions.

On Friday, all eight qualifiers for the WTA Finals appeared in front of the media in Riyadh. All argued that the tournament's presence would contribute to the emancipation of women in a country ranked 126th out of 146 on the Global Gender Gap Index.

Gauff: “I want to see it for myself”

Amid the general positive mood, Coco Gauff, one of the tour's most politically informed players, was the only player to express concern about the choice of venue. She said she would wait to see whether promised progress actually materialized before deciding to return to Riyadh in the future.

“I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t have reservations,” Gauff said when asked if she was worried about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. “It's one of those things where I want to see it for myself and see if the change is happening. If I felt uncomfortable or felt like nothing was happening, I probably wouldn't come back.

“As far as being here for a week, I really feel like it's getting there. The people I've spoken to say it is. I can only trust what I'm told. Obviously I don’t live here, so I can only trust what the people who live here tell me.”