The prospect of a Saudi Arabian-backed tennis super tour is fast becoming a very real possibility.
This comes after the Middle East’s increasing involvement in a number of sports, most notably through the ownership of football clubs like Manchester City and Newcastle United, and their LIV Golf tour.
With tennis players already frustrated with the ever-growing schedule presented to them, this proposal is not certain to ease those grievances.
But what are the chances of this actually happening? We take a closer look…
What did Jon Wertheim say about a Saudi Arabian super tour?
Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, revered journalist Jon Wertheim offered his rather damning verdict on the possibility that a Saudi-backed takeover could soon dominate the sport.
He claimed: ‘It’s fascinating. This is tennis intersecting with all sorts of social and economic issues. Saudi Arabia is driving this.
‘There is a huge investment in sports, this is about rebranding an entire country. Success won’t be measured on what TV deals they do or how many fans sit in the stands, this is something much more macro about changing perception of Saudi Arabia.
‘We have the LIV tour in golf, that hasn’t gone so well. It was greatly controversial. The Saudis have made it clear tennis is an area where we would like to grow and the question is, how do we do this?
‘Do we risk a rival tour like the LIV Golf tour or make nice and come up with a win-win. What seems to be on the table now, with Craig Tilley as a driving force, is that Saudis put a lot of capital in the sport. The nine biggest events get together, they combine with the four majors, they add a big event in Saudi Arabia, probably in January or February, and suddenly you have this Super Tour.
‘I don’t know if that’s the official name but you and I are calling it that.
‘Craig Tilley took a lot of meetings in Australia, put the players one-on-one and said listen, you are going to make double, triple, maybe four times as much money as you would be making now. We need you to play these 14 events, you’d be playing them anyway. The plan is essentially to combine the nine biggest events, the four majors and a Saudi Arabia event.
‘What this does for the rest of the tour calendar is a question. Is this men and women is a question which is out there.’
A polarising day for tennis
Whilst the money that would inevitably flood into the sport would be a game changer, it would certainly be tainted by the controversy that surrounds partnering with such a polarising regime.
After all, many from the women’s game have rightly voiced their issues with an increased emphasis on Saudi Arabian involvement.
Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch even told Reuters earlier this year: ‘Sports such as tennis have only been allowed in the kingdom since 2018 for women and girls. Until that time, women and girls were not welcome in the stadium even to watch sports.’
Such a damning recent history does not do the regime any favours, but their cause was aided by Aryna Sabalenka’s glowing testimony after she featured in Riyadh for an exhibition match late last year.
This came just before Rafael Nadal signed on as a tennis ambassador for the country too.
It seems this country and its potential involvement in tennis is still one which is certain to divide opinion.
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