Saudi Arabia's tennis bid will face competition from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

In a statement given to Telegraph Sport, the ATP insisted a 10th Masters tournament is part of its strategy to unify tennis. Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

The Association of Tennis Professionals has announced a bid to host a 10th Masters 1000 tournament, likely to be held in the first week of the season, so Saudi billions can compete with other oil-rich nations.

Two weeks ago Telegraph Sport reported that the Saudis had made a ten-figure offer with a 90-day take-it-or-leave-it period.

This bid amounted to a total of US$1.3 billion for the men's and women's tours and included this new Masters tournament, as well as sponsorship rights and other tournament commitments, including the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

It was unveiled at Indian Wells just over two weeks ago by ATP chief Andrea Gaudenzi, who, bizarrely, allowed representatives from the four Grand Slam tournaments to leave the room before he revealed the Saudi bid to ATP tournament directors.

But the ATP has now decided to give the Qataris, Emiratis and Tennis Australia a chance to place competing bids. In fact, there may be two separate Emirati bids — one from Dubai and one from Abu Dhabi — that will participate alongside bids from Doha, Riyadh and Melbourne (although some sources expect Tennis Australia to decline the invitation).

< p>In a statement given to Telegraph Sport, the ATP insists a tenth Masters is part of its strategy to unify tennis — although Grand Slam officials who were excluded from Gaudenzi's original Saudi revelation at Indian Wells may respond by raising eyebrow.< /p>

The statement said: “We continually call for greater collaboration across tennis, advocating for a common governance structure with fair player representation and a centralized commercial strategy for tennis.”

“Our roadmap includes the potential creation of a tenth ATP Masters 1000 tournament The official tender process is currently underway.”

Telegraph Sport understands the Saudis have withdrawn their original $1.3 billion offer but are expected to resubmit a new offer as part of the tender process. The window for applications is very limited, with the ATP board wanting to discuss applications during the Madrid Masters in five weeks.

Indeed, this Madrid tournament now looks set to be the venue for the next fight. Between the ATP's oil-funded plan and the Grand Slams' competing ambition to create a streamlined «Premium Tour».

In theory, the two could co-exist, but not if a tenth Masters takes place. is scheduled for the first week of the season as it would clash with traditional Tennis Australia tournaments such as the United Cup and would only deepen existing bad blood between Gaudenzi and Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley.

One potential. A compromise might be to move this new Masters tournament to February, although that would require huge compensation payments to the many smaller tournaments that currently occupy that spot.