The ATP is launching a brand new Masters 1000-level occasion in Saudi Arabia, the tour introduced Thursday.
Working with SURJ Sports activities Investments, a part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, the event is about to debut on the tennis calendar as early as 2028. Saudi Arabia at present hosts the year-end WTA Finals and ATP Subsequent Gen Finals.
The brand new Masters event marks the PIF’s newest foray into tennis. The fund is the official naming companion of the world rankings for each the ATP and WTA and has partnerships with varied marquee occasions, together with Indian Wells and Madrid. The PIF can also be the sponsor for the WTA’s newly launched maternity depart program.
The Center Japanese nation has confronted widespread criticism for human rights violations. Critics contend Saudi Arabia has engaged in sportswashing and used the nation’s wealth to put money into international sports activities initiatives to enhance its status on the world stage. Previous to the WTA asserting it might maintain the year-end finals there, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova expressed their opposition in a 2024 opinion piece for The Washington Put up, writing that it “would signify not progress, however vital regression.”
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ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, in an announcement Thursday, referred to as the brand new event a “proud second” for his group.
“[This is] the results of a journey that is been years within the making,” Gaudenzi stated. “Saudi Arabia has proven a real dedication to tennis — not simply on the skilled stage, but in addition in rising the sport extra broadly in any respect ranges. PIF’s ambition for the game is obvious, and we imagine followers and gamers alike will likely be amazed by what’s coming.”
The particular timing of the Saudi Arabia occasion was not introduced, similar for the host metropolis and venue. Will probably be the ATP’s tenth Masters event — the best stage of tennis occasions outdoors the majors — and the primary to be launched for the reason that class was launched in 1990.
ATP gamers with a rating that may enable for direct entry are at present required to play in eight of the 9 Masters 1000-level tournaments, with exceptions for harm. Monte Carlo, performed in April, is the one Masters occasion that isn’t necessary.
Many gamers, together with Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, have voiced considerations in regards to the size and depth of the globetrotting season, along with the prolonged format (from one week to 12 days) of a number of 1000-level occasions. The addition of one other necessary event on the boys’s tour might be met with combined response.
