The tennis world was rocked late last week by rumors that the four Grand Slam events could merge with the largest Masters series tournaments and form a new professional tour. Apparently, behind these plans are businessmen from Saudi Arabia who are already successfully investing in football. Sports correspondent talks about how changes can affect the traditions of one of the most conservative sports.
Saudi Arabia in the context of sports has long been no longer something exotic. The country's football league acquired top stars – Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema, and the national team at the last World Cup inflicted a sensational defeat on the future winners, the Argentines. For three years now, the Formula 1 championship has been held on the Arabian Peninsula. Also with money from “Saudi origin”, a new professional golf tour (LIV Golf) was launched in 2022, to which many stars joined. The hierarchy that had developed over the years almost collapsed – and it is not a fact that this will not happen in the future. In the summer of 2023, negotiations began on the merger of the world's main series of PGA and LIV Golf tournaments. At the moment there are no details of how they are going, but it is obvious that it is not easy.
The threat of a split also looms over professional tennis. Journalist Jon Wertheim reported that there are plans to combine the four Grand Slam tournaments and nine Masters into one professional super tour. And judging by the fact that the 10th tournament in this cycle is to be the tournament in Riyadh, the project is backed by money from the Persian Gulf – more precisely, from the oil wells of the region.
Saudi ears did not become such a loud sensation. The country has been showing interest in investing in tennis for a long time, and this year it materialized, in particular, in a five-year contract to host the final tournament of young stars (ATP Next Gen) in Jeddah. This is the first official professional tournament on Saudi soil.
However, he apparently did not satisfy the ambitions of the sheikhs. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the appearance in the summer of 2023 of official information about negotiations between the APR and rich people from this state on the organization of a stage of the Masters series. The start, according to the preliminary plan, should take place at the beginning of the year and end a week before the Australian Open – the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
This is a much more serious impact on the professional tour. After all, the first two weeks of the beginning of the year are traditionally reserved for exhibition matches such as the Hopman Cup and tournaments that are perceived by players solely as a warm-up for the Australian Open. True, for reasons of political correctness no one says this. However, I remember that Nikolai Davydenko was once fined for “garlicically” calling the tournament in Sydney “useless to anyone.”
If the Masters is now held in Saudi Arabia in early January, tennis players will be able to quote the Russian player without any fear of being sanctioned. It is obvious that the strongest will prefer to go to Riyadh rather than Adelaide and Auckland. There has already been talk about holding the final WTA tournament – the Women's Professional Tour – in Saudi Arabia. It sounds quite strange, considering, so to speak, the specifics of the country. On the other hand, have the tournaments in Doha and Dubai secured permanent places on the calendar? And they became one of the most prestigious in the world – almost like the Grand Slam tournaments. The entire elite flocks to the cities.
What about the “Saudi break point” – after all, tennis will really be at a turning point if all plans are destined to come true – do the stars think? World number one Novak Djokovic said back in the summer that he would play in Saudi Arabia only if the “traditions and integrity” of tennis were preserved. World number two Carlos Alcaraz said that he was ready to compete without any conditions. Well, Russian Daniil Medvedev has already played in exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia.
As for women, rumors about Saudi intervention are still more vague, and therefore there are fewer comments. Although some famous people have already spoken out: for example, Martina Navratilova said that she would not go to Saudi Arabia. Another former US tennis player, Chris Evert, called on the WTA not to chase the “long dollar”, but to continue to pursue the ideals of gender equality.
But for now a new super tour is on the agenda. If talk of its creation materializes, then we could be witnessing the most serious upheaval in professional tennis since the early 90s. Then tours were created under the auspices of the ATP and WTA in their current form. And the main intrigue is how will organizations react to the fact that they will suddenly be given a place on the margins? After all, only the least prestigious tournaments will remain under control.
Even without sheikhs, world tennis has been turbulent lately. Some top players have expressed dissatisfaction with the way profits are distributed in their sport. Constant reports of record prize pools at major tournaments should not be misleading here.
Athletes believe that the profits of the tour owners are growing faster than their “salaries”. So the future of tennis depends both on how the current bosses react to the situation, and on what the “revolutionaries” will offer the tennis players.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors
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