ATP will launch a brand new Masters 1000-level occasion in Saudi Arabia, the tour introduced Thursday.
In collaboration with SURJ Sports activities Funding, a part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, the event is predicted to seem on the tennis calendar as early as 2028. Saudi Arabia is at present internet hosting the year-end WTA Finals and ATP Subsequent Era Finals.
The brand new Masters Event marks PIF’s newest foray into tennis. The inspiration is the official naming associate of each the ATP and WTA world rankings and is affiliated with quite a lot of prestigious occasions together with Indian Wells and Madrid. PIF can also be the sponsor of WTA’s newly launched maternity depart program.
The Center Jap nation has confronted widespread criticism for human rights abuses. Critics argue that Saudi Arabia has dedicated to sportswashing and invested the nation’s wealth in international sports activities initiatives to spice up its status on the world stage. Earlier than the WTA introduced it could maintain its year-end finals there, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova voiced their opposition in a 2024 op-ed for The Washington Publish, writing that it “represents a major setback, not progress.”
ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi mentioned in a press release Thursday that the brand new event is a “proud second” for the group.
“(This) is the results of a journey that has been a few years within the making,” Gaudenge mentioned. “Saudi Arabia has proven an actual dedication to tennis, not simply on the skilled stage, however in rising the sport extra broadly in any respect ranges. PIF’s ambitions for the game are clear and we consider followers and gamers alike shall be amazed by what lies forward.”
The precise timing of the Saudi Arabian Video games, in addition to the host metropolis and venue, haven’t been introduced. This would be the ATP’s tenth Masters Event (the very best stage of non-major tennis occasions) and the primary for the reason that class was launched in 1990.
ATP gamers with rankings that permit direct entry are at present required to compete in eight of the 9 Masters 1000-level tournaments, with exceptions because of damage. Monte Carlo, held in April, is the one Masters occasion that isn’t obligatory.
Various gamers, together with Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff, expressed issues in regards to the size and depth of the globe-trotting season, along with the prolonged format (1 week to 12 days) of some 1000-level occasions. The addition of one other obligatory event to the lads’s tour may draw combined reactions.
