Game, Set, Fortune! Saudi Arabia ups ante with big prize money
Saudi Arabia this weekend. Not for an ATP series, but an exhibition tournament called the Six Kings Slam. Just being there has earned each of these players more than $1 million, while Sinner took home $6 million for defeating Alcaraz in the final.
In two weeks, the WTA Tour will arrive in Riyadh for its season-ending final, a $15-million payday for the best women players. And in December, the ATP Next Gen Finals, an event featuring the top eight men in the world aged under 21, will be held in Jeddah. So, for the remainder of this season, Saudi Arabia will be the centre of the tennis universe, an unlikely status for a country that’s never hosted important tournaments and where people barely play the sport.
But there’s one major hitch: Despite months of negotiations, the proposal for a major 1000-level tournament (one rung below a Grand Slam) in Saudi Arabia is still at least three seasons away. There’s uncertainty on both sides over the tournament’s size, functioning and timing, with no guarantees on who will participate or how much it will cost. What’s more, these questions have barely figured in meetings between the ATP and WTA tours and the four tennis associations that control the Grand Slams.
Complaints from players about the length of the season have further complicated discussions. Answers to these questions will affect how much money the event can produce and how much Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) wants to invest in the venture. Plan B With the event still up in the air, the Saudis have opted for a more considered approach, people familiar with their plans say.
