Daria Kasatkina, one of the few openly gay players on the WTA Tour, said she has been “given guarantees” about her safety when competing in Saudi Arabia.
The 26-year-old is vying to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals, which will be held in Riyadh for the first time this November.
Asked if gay athletes would feel safe taking part, the world number 11 told BBC Sport: “I've been assured it's okay.”
When asked at last year's Wimbledon, Kasatkina expressed reservations about the final being held in Saudi Arabia, saying: “There are a lot of problems in this country.”
But Kasatkina spoke at the Madrid Open after her third-round win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova about the benefits of holding the tour's flagship event in Riyadh on a three-year deal.
“If I qualify, it means I'll be in the top eight in the world. That's great news for me,” she said.
“We can see that the Saudi public is passionate about this sport right now and they want to develop this sport. I think it would be great if they could watch it, play it, be a part of it as much as they can.”
Human Rights Watch told the BBC in December that a Saudi court had convicted people who promoted homosexuality online, stating that “LGBT people in Saudi Arabia go to extremes to survive in everyday life.'' We must practice self-censorship,” he added.
In response, Saudi Tennis Federation president Alij al-Mutabaghani said gay players should not behave any differently than in places such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which already host WTA tournaments.
“People can do whatever they want. There's nothing that says they can or can't act. They just need to understand that every country has its own rules and traditions,” she says.
“It's the same thing that happened in Dubai. How will they behave in Dubai? We are the same, we are all neighbors. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, how will the players behave there? I wonder?”
WTA CEO Steve Simon said representatives from the LGBTQ+ community were included on a fact-finding trip to Saudi Arabia before the WTA Finals deal was signed.
Tunisian world No. 9 Ons Jabour also reiterated his support for the Saudi final.
“As an Arab woman, I am very proud that things are starting to move in Saudi Arabia,” she said in Madrid.
“As Princess Reema said, you should come to Saudi Arabia, be there and judge yourself.
“For me, it's always about the opportunity, not just to go there to play a tennis match, but to give young women in particular an opportunity to see their role models and believe that they can achieve anything. is.”
