[Tori_Great]

Saudi Arabia haa changed significantly on this policy in the last decade. This is all just broken record posters bringing up long past stuff in true MTF fashion. See above, high-potential junior female KSA players are already making waves. Minhas is ranked ITF #299 junior at only 14.

Which policy?

 

[Slasher1985]

Which policy?

Women rights.

 

[Tori_Great]

Is that not enough???

Sure it is. But I was wondering about ALL the bad stuff there.

 

[BaselineGod]

he says he won’t retire, but he hasn’t played a single match to completion in good health

He is entering the stage of Denial that at one Moment both Federer and Nadal faced.. lets be honest..

 

[YonaMX]

Westerners don't fight mysoginism, they're just high and mighty about it. The goal posts about Saudis are just shifting already in this thread. Change doesn't come overnight from absolutism to more liberal societal norms, yet MTFers expect it go straight into that, it's impossible. It didn't happen in the Western world, it took CENTURIES, so how are posters here being so hypocritical about Saudis is beyond me. They're moving at an unreal pace given how they were before. I sincerely applaud these efforts and their efforts into preserving peace in the middle east too, the past is in the past for me. If only humans were more quickly adept at removing labels than they are at installing them, humanity would be in a better place now.

When pretty much every other Arab state treats its female citizens better than Saudi Arabia does, there is no place for excuses.

 

[florentine]

He is entering the stage of Denial that at one Moment both Federer and Nadal faced.. lets be honest..

There wasn't really any denial from Federer and Nadal.

After his injury at AO 2020, Federer underwent double knee surgery, and a year later, the year he turned 40, he gave it a try, quickly convinced it was over, and retired at Wimbledon 2021 after a dozen matches.

Nadal is somewhat comparable: after Wimbledon 2022 and 2023 aborted, he tried in 2024 and saw it was over.

Djokovic is still at a competitive level this year, given the current tour; his ranking confirms it, and he won another tournament this year.

Now, compare that with the length of Murray's denial from mid-2017 to 2024.

 

[Phillo]

This win is just as valid & relevant as if he beat him in the Boodles, who cares? It's just an exhibition with nothing on the line for a 3rd place finish as far as I understand

You guys are taking this way too seriously

Tbh Novak should have just skipped this whole event in the 1st place after his deep Shanghai run, no idea why he decided to play it

Not a good look for him any way u look at it including the S. Arabia angle.

Letting a weakling like Sinnebol serve lights out while being touted as one of the top 2 returners in history means it's seriously time to go back to the drawing board IF he's serious about his getting back to his expected levels.

I've also been hinting that it might b time to consider some changes to his racquet specs if he hasn't already & will soon open a thread about it.

 

[Slasher1985]

When pretty much every other Arab state treats its female citizens better than Saudi Arabia does, there is no place for excuses.

Factually incorrect, though agree much is still left to be done. Like I said change doesn't happen over night, so please verify your comments against scientific and statistical sources before "contributing". Saudi is even above Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.

https://theweek.com/60339/things-women-cant-do-in-saudi-arabia

While rights for women have steadily improved over the past decade under the modernising reforms of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia remains near the bottom of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Index, coming 132nd out of 148 countries in the 2025 report.

Hilarious that countries like India are 131st in the top, but Saudi is still "evil".

Iran, Chad, Sudan and Pakistan are the ones.

 

[tennisspa]

You may think not ever, but actually he has.

It was against Tim Henman!

You mean to say that he retired in an exhibition before?

 

[Time Violation]

Hilarious that countries like India are 131st in the top, but Saudi is still "evil".

No way anyone has good opinion on India regarding women's rights, on the contrary. Btw stanning for Saudis is certainly a thing

 

[jovanmilic97]

Tbh Novak should have just skipped this whole event in the 1st place after his deep Shanghai run, no idea why he decided to play it

Money, money, money

 

[Slasher1985]

No way anyone has good opinion on India regarding women's rights, on the contrary. Btw stanning for Saudis is certainly a thing

I am stanning for scientific accuracy, as always. Always hated MTFer unverified "Trust me bro" sources when posting BS. But dare I say, I never saw Marrakech/Casablanca or Pune tournaments abused for being in an evil country before, that's for sure.

 

[jovanmilic97]

Not a good look for him any way u look at it including the S. Arabia angle.

Letting a weakling like Sinnebol serve lights out while being touted as one of the top 2 returners in history means it's seriously time to go back to the drawing board IF he's serious about his getting back to his expected levels.

I've also been hinting that it might b time to consider some changes to his racquet specs if he hasn't already & will soon open a thread about it.

Changing the racquet specs won't help him return Sinner's serves (or others). A lot of his decline is physical/aging and it's reflected in his reflexes and movement.

 

[wake_up_bomb]

https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/yara-alhaqbani/800627337/ksa/wt/S/overview/

Saudi tennis star claims Accra ITF J100 girl’s singles title

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s rising tennis star Haniya Minhas claimed victory in the Tennis Foundation’s Ghana Open — Accra ITF J100 girl’s singles title last week. Minhas triumphed in the final against the tournament’s top seed, Tunisian player Lamiss Houas, with a score of 6-4, 6-2. This victory...

www.arabnews.com

Well, I am very pleased to read that, but please note the final paragraph:

"Her participation marked a significant moment for Saudi Arabia, with Minhas becoming the first player from the Kingdom to compete at Wimbledon in the junior categories and the only athlete to represent the nation in Wimbledon competition".

I think literally one player from the nation in its entire history competing at Wimbledon, and they competed in the consolation bracket of the girls singles, is not a particularly fertile history in the game!

 

[Slasher1985]

Well, I am very pleased to read that, but please note the final paragraph:

"Her participation marked a significant moment for Saudi Arabia, with Minhas becoming the first player from the Kingdom to compete at Wimbledon in the junior categories and the only athlete to represent the nation in Wimbledon competition".

I think literally one player from the nation in its entire history competing at Wimbledon, and they competed in the consolation bracket of the girls singles, is not a particularly fertile history in the game!

Huh? Literally every comment I made was about how Saudis have just started their reform. Of course there is no history. It's quite logical and as I said, this takes time.

 

[Rambo Apocalypse]

Do the players get extra money for winning a third place in this event?Weird,that such a match exists...outside Olympics makes no sense

No, but their appearance fee is likely conditional on them actually showing up for all the matches they're scheduled for.

 

[wake_up_bomb]

Huh? Literally every comment I made was about how Saudis have just started their reform. Of course there is no history. It's quite logical and as I said, this takes time.

I never said otherwise, and I hope that there is successful reform. I am not hugely optimistic.

 

[FloridaHawaiiMan]

To you childish, juvenile Djokovic haters I see on social media: STOP BEING A BABY just because Djokovic retired from a meaningless exo. Djokovic is the GOAT, whether your whiny, hating self likes it or not.

 

[YonaMX]

Factually incorrect, though agree much is still left to be done. Like I said change doesn't happen over night, so please verify your comments against scientific and statistical sources before "contributing". Saudi is even above Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.

https://theweek.com/60339/things-women-cant-do-in-saudi-arabia

Well Egypt, Algeria and Morocco aren't religious countries by law, Saudi Arabia is. In Egypt specifically it's a matter of chauvinism among large parts of the public. But there's also a women's rights movement, a secular media that pushes for improvements in women's rights and for legislation for stricter punishments for related crimes. They have influence when it comes both the authorities and the justice system. The Egyptian regime isn't evil when it comes to women's rights, it simply doesn't do enough when it comes to treating the gender-based crimes. I can share a couple of videos explaining it, but they are in Hebrew.

Hilarious that countries like India are 131st in the top, but Saudi is still "evil".

View attachment 435893

India has billions of people in it, different districts and different states. The situation of women's rights is different between them, between small villages and big cities. The problem there is similar to the one in Egypt - too many chauvinistic people in the public in numerous places and authorities that don't do enough. Saudi Arabia's regime is centralized and has almost complete control over its citizens.

TLDR: in Egypt and India these aren't the authorities that are evil when it comes to women's rights, a part of the population is and the authorities are far from handling it properly. In Saudi Arabia the regime itself is evil.

Iran, Chad, Sudan and Pakistan are the ones.

I never claimed they aren't evil. But they don't get global legitimacy from the West and from the tennis world, do they?

 

[Slasher1985]

Well Egypt, Algeria and Morocco aren't religious countries by law, Saudi Arabia is. In Egypt specifically it's a matter of chauvinism among large parts of the public. But there's also a women's rights movement, a secular media that pushes for improvements in women's rights and for legislation for stricter punishments for related crimes. They have influence when it comes both the authorities and the justice system. The Egyptian regime isn't evil when it comes to women's rights, it simply doesn't do enough when it comes to treating the gender-based crimes. I can share a couple of videos explaining it, but they are in Hebrew.

India has billions of people in it, different districts and different states. The situation of women's rights is different between them, between small villages and big cities. The problem there is similar to the one in Egypt - too many chauvinistic people in the public in numerous places and authorities that don't do enough. Saudi Arabia's regime is centralized and has almost complete control over its citizens.

TLDR: in Egypt and India these aren't the authorities that are evil when it comes to women's rights, a part of the population is and the authorities are far from handling it properly. In Saudi Arabia the regime itself is evil.

I never claimed they aren't evil. But they don't get global legitimacy from the West and from the tennis world, do they?

You're just trying to move those goal posts. You said that every other Arab state treats their women better. Evidence proved otherwise.

Is evil when the state tries to correct older medieval style awful laws and do better step by step, or when the state does nothing to address violent social behaviour?