After football and golf, Saudi Arabia could become a key player in tennis.
Anything but a surprise.
She announced the color at the beginning of February with the announcement of the competition which will take place next October the “6 Kings Slam” in Riyadh with the announced presence of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune .
Just that !
A competition which will inevitably shorten the ATP calendar.
The Shanghai Masters 1000 takes place from October 2 to 13.
The winner of this 6 Kings Slam should pocket 5.62 million euros, when Jannik Sinner received 1.95 million euros for winning the Australian Open... Until now Saudi Arabia had happy to organize exhibition matches
Should we therefore expect a circuit war like in the world of golf?
For the moment, this scenario is not anticipated in the world of tennis.
Andrea Gaudenzi, the boss of the ATP circuit, announced last June that he had had “positive”
discussions
with the kingdom about future joint investments.
This partnership will mark
“a significant joint commitment to improve world tennis”
, the two parties indicated in a joint press release, without revealing the amount of the agreement.
Last month Rafael Nadal was appointed ambassador by the kingdom.
PIF will also partner with ATP Tour events in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and the ATP Finals, in addition to the ATP Next Gen Finals, hosted in Jeddah until 2027. Last year , the kingdom hosted its first ATP Tour event – the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah – as well as exhibition matches pitting Novak Djokovic against Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka against Ons Jabeur.
Since 2021, PIF has invested heavily in sport, for example purchasing the English Premier League club Newcastle United.
The world of the little white ball was torn apart when in 2022, the LIV, a circuit controlled by Saudi state funds, behaved as a rival to the PGA Tour.
The reference circuit was quickly faced with the departure of its best elements (Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, etc.) for even more incredible prize money.
The prestigious PGA Tour has discussed a merger after two years of conflict, but for now this merger remains wishful thinking...