Garbine Muguruza and Judy Murray's involvement in WTA Finals is a necessary move

In case you missed it, Garbine Muguruza was selected as the tournament director for the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Muguruza, the 2021 WTA Finals Champion, is the first former player selected to be the tournament director at a year-end event.

Judy Murray, mother of Andy Murray and acclaimed tennis coach, was named the WTA Finals Community Ambassador who will be tasked with teaching, inspiring, and mentoring the sport as part of the Saudi Tennis Federation's ambitious goal of getting 1 million people to try tennis by 2030.

Muguruza and Murray are well-liked, successful, and reputable women in the tennis world. They are excellent selections from a public relations perspective, but their jobs are much more difficult than arguably anyone else's at a WTA tournament.

WTA Finals has an identity crisis, and Garbine Muguruza and Judy Murray will be tasked with fixing it

Because we are in the throes of the tennis season, the WTA Finals have not been a hotpoint in recent discussion. However, when the US Open rolls around in late August, the topic will rear its ugly head again.

The debate centers on why the WTA went the Saudi route when selecting a long-term location (2024-2026) for this event. The human rights issues facing women in Saudi Arabia make it an unpallatble choice for some. Players and former players have dissenting opinions on whether the WTA should be holding its year-end event there.

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have publicly expressed their disappointment with the decision. Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Ons Jabeur have supported the decision as long as there are opportunities to help the women living in that area of the world.

It remains to be seen if the selection of Muguruza and Murray helps to silence the critics. These women, one barely removed from her playing days, have a lot to do to make this event a success, and those tasks go beyond running a tournament and managing the players' needs while they are in Riyadh. Can Muguruza and Murray give the WTA Finals a much needed boost of credibility, likeability, and positive publicity, something the event has lacked for years even when it was located elsewhere?

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