After two years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the marquee, season-ending event in women’s tennis will this year take place in one of the sport’s most prestigious venues.The 2026 WTA Tour Finals will take place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Calif., the site of the ATP and WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open, which takes place in March and has been colloquially known as the “fifth Slam” in tennis.The women’s tour confirmed the move in a statement Wednesday, months after the news that the deal between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation for the event would end this year.By spring, the WTA Tour Finals had outlived its usefulness to Saudi Arabia’s wider ambitions as it relates to tennis, according to two people briefed on its sports ministry’s operations who were not authorized to speak publicly. The kingdom has spent years investing in global sports with the hope of transforming its reputation in the West from that of a country with an abhorrent record of civil rights abuses to a luxury hub of sport and culture.At the same time, the WTA did not want to host an event in Riyadh amid conflict in the Middle East following the American-Israeli decision to attack Iran in late February that has since escalated to war. But the previous November, then-WTA Tour chief executive Portia Archer had said that she would like the event to stay in Riyadh beyond its initial three-year term.In a joint statement released Wednesday, the WTA and STF said that WTA requested to move the tour finals.The move puts the WTA’s biggest event of the year in a friendly timezone for the tour’s biggest television markets in North America and Europe. It’s also familiar to fans accustomed to flocking to the desert each March to watch the best players in the world.“The Indian Wells Tennis Garden provides an exceptional stage for the WTA Finals,” WTA Chair Valerie Camillo said in a statement. “From its world-class facilities and passionate fan base to its proven ability to deliver premier tennis events, the venue offers everything needed to showcase the very best of women’s tennis. We are excited to bring the WTA Finals to Southern California and continue building one of the premier championships in global sport.”The move also marks the end of a controversial, albeit lucrative, partnership between the tour and the STF.The prize money was $15.25 million in the first year of the deal in 2024, a 66 percent ($6.25 million) bump from 2023 that put the prize pool on par with what ATP players earned in their season-ending finals event the same year. In 2025, the federation funded the biggest winner’s check in the history of women’s sports, and WTA Tour Finals champion Elena Rybakina got $5.3 million dollars.But the WTA faced criticism for partnering with a country with a history of repressive laws against women, and a heavily criticized human rights record.As part of the agreement, the organizations said, Saudi Arabia promised to use the event to promote sports among women and girls and increase the visibility of the WTA in a place that before 2024 had virtually no tennis footprint.Moving the event to California should satisfy stakeholders across women’s tennis on many fronts. In Riyadh, players often competed in mostly empty stadiums in a city where there was little buzz surrounding an event that’s considered to be a massive achievement. Only the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams of the season compete.Indian Wells an established tennis destination, will be a significant change of scene. The tour is still seeking a longer-term contract to host the finals beyond 2026.Jul 1, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms