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 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. The rich Saudi fund will become “the official partner of the ATP Rankings”, which will now be officially called the PIF ATP Rankings, and will be associated “with the ATP tournaments of Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and the Masters at the end of year, in addition to the Next Gen Masters, organized in Jeddah until 2027,” specified the PIF and the ATP. Last month Rafael Nadal was appointed ambassador by the kingdom. 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 at Ons Jabeur. Since 2021, PIF has invested heavily in sport, for example purchasing the English Premier League club Newcastle United. The country also hosts a Formula 1 Grand Prix, Moto GP and the Dakar rally-raid, and hopes to host the Football World Cup in 2034… The world of the little white ball has been 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…
