Medvedev and Fritz agree on Saudi experience following controversy

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Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz have both shared their wishes to return to Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Tennis Cup exhibition despite the controversy surrounding the tournament. The American defeated the world No 7 7-6(3) 7-6(3) in Saturday’s final to win £820,000 ($1 million) and both men raved about their experience at the exhibition event despite criticism from human rights organisations.

The controversial Diriyah Tennis Cup came to a conclusion on Saturday as Fritz defeated Medvedev in two tiebreak sets to be crowned the champion and receive a whopping £820k winners’ cheque. The exhibition event had come into disrepute in recent weeks given Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, with players being accused of being used in the country’s sportswashing attempts.

But despite the disapproval shown towards the tournament and competing players, the two finalists were in agreement over their enjoyable experience at the Diriyah Tennis Cup as they expressed interest in returning for 2023. “Thanks to everyone who makes this tournament possible, to all the sponsors, I’m not gonna be able to name all of them but it’s a great tournament,” Medvedev said during his runner-up speech, as he received £408k ($500k) for losing in the final.

The champion of the tournament in its inaugural year in 2019, he continued: “It’s my second time and I feel very welcome coming here and I will be really happy to come back many times.” The former world No 1 also thanked the fans as he claimed the final had the “biggest crowd [he’d] seen in two years.”

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Laughing, he added: “Let’s hope next year for an almost full stadium and in two years for full stadium will be good.” Fritz echoed the 15-time title winner’s sentiment as he collected his trophy, claiming that the strong player field demonstrated how enjoyable the tournament was.

“I want to thank all the sponsors, it’s a really great event.” the champion said. “The field speaks for itself, you have all of the best players in the world coming here so it was great to come here.”

Their words come after two separate human rights organisations specifically condemned the Diriyah Tennis Cup. British No 1 Cameron Norrie – who lost to Fritz in the semi-final – was told that he was “effectively being deliberately hired in to take part in the latest jamboree of Saudi sportswashing” by Felix Jakens, Amnesty International UK’s Head of Priority Campaigns.

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“Cameron has a big platform and genuine influence, and he should use this to show solidarity with people like Selma al-Shehab who are being cruelly persecuted in Saudi Arabia,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch told Express Sport: “Athletes and fans and tennis influencers need to look past the glamour of these events to Saudi Arabia’s ongoing widespread rights abuses including mass arrests and detention, a crackdown on dissent and free speech, surveillance and hacking, and jailing of the country’s most prominent women’s rights advocates, including Loujain al-Hathloul, who was released from prison, but is not free.”

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