Kim Clijsters gives her verdict on the WTA Finals moving from Saudi Arabia to Indian Wells

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This year’s WTA Finals have been moved from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Indian Wells, California.

The WTA Finals’ three-year deal with Saudi Arabia ended a year early, and they have found a temporary home in Indian Wells.

Whether they will stay in Indian Wells for 2027 or move to either of the two rumoured destinations, Charlotte, USA, or Gdansk, Poland, remains to be seen.

Three-time WTA Finals champion Kim Clijsters has now delivered her verdict on the move.

Kim Clijsters believes tennis chiefs have made the ‘smartest move’ choosing Indian Wells to host the WTA Finals

During the latest episode of the ‘Love All Podcast‘, Clijsters commented on the ticket sales for the first-ever WTA Finals hosted by Indian Wells.

“I heard about 30,000 tickets have been sold already,” she said.

“Yeah. I think it will be good for the sport to bring it back to America.

“I think Indian Wells, when we think about Indian Wells, we think about the March/April time period, Indian Wells/Miami, you have a lot of people that will fly from different states over to Indian Wells, and there are really good crowds at that time of the year.

“I played World Team Tennis there once, later in the year, and it was very, very slow, on the ticket sales. I remember our coach would go to some parking lots, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and stuff, and put tickets behind people’s windscreens and windshield wipers, just trying to get people to come and cheer!

“I hope that it will draw enough attention, and I think if we all start talking about it now, hopefully it will catch some momentum.”

Clijsters is confident the powers that be have made the right choice in moving the event to Indian Wells.

“What they were saying at Wimbledon is that they’ve sold between 29 and 30,000 tickets,” she said.

“I think they are using the second biggest court as the Stadium Court.

“It’s a beautiful place to be, and I think with everything happening right now in the Middle East and the conflict, I think it was the smartest choice to move it away from there.”

Since the WTA Finals left Singapore after a five-year stint in 2018, they have struggled to find a permanent home.

Shenzhen only hosted the finals for a year, as did Guadalajara, Fort Worth, and Cancun.

WTA Finals hosts (2019-present)

Riyadh looked to provide some consistency, although even that didn’t last long, cutting their three-year deal short.

It’s concerning that such a historic event has struggled to find a place to call home for almost a decade now.

In comparison, on the men’s side, the ATP Finals have only moved locations once since 2009.

ATP Finals hosts (2009-present)

If the WTA Finals are to move away from Indian Wells in 2027, they need to find the right location, and stick with it for the long haul.

Who should host the WTA Finals?

There are several factors to consider when assessing potential WTA Finals hosts.

The first, and most important, is whether a location is safe for the players and fans to visit.

As Clijsters rightly mentioned, for this year at least, that rules out parts of the Middle East, and potentially Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, too.

The WTA Finals also present an opportunity for countries that don’t see much tennis to host an event.

While the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Australia all have the facilities to host the WTA Finals, given that they already have Grand Slam tournaments, perhaps other countries should be considered first.

The question is – Which countries should be at the top of the list?

Looking at the WTA Rankings, if feasible, you’d like to think Kazakhstan could be worth a shout.

The world number two, Elena Rybakina, represents Kazakhstan and has won two Grand Slam titles.

You could say the same about Poland and Iga Swiatek, although she is unlikely to qualify for this year’s WTA Finals.

Other big nations such as Brazil and India could be good options, as could the Philippines, thanks to Alex Eala’s rise to superstardom.

There are certainly several options for tournament organisers to consider, and we will have to wait and see where the WTA Finals head next!

The 2026 WTA Finals in Indian Wells are scheduled to begin on Saturday, November 6.

Mirra Andreeva, Aryna Sabalenka, Rybakina, Karolina Muchova, Elina Svitolina, Jessica Pegula, Linda Noskova, and Coco Gauff currently occupy the eight qualification spots.