Saudi Arabia hold ‘positive’ talks to buy tennis after mega-money sports deals

Tennis could be set to move to Saudi Arabia after ATP Tour chair Andrea Gaudenzi held talks with the nation’s Public Investment Fund. The PIF has already made strides in golf and football and looks to be targeting tennis as the latest sport to receive a cash boost. But the tour’s chairman has made it clear that the fund would need to respect the sport.

Saudi Arabia has continued its investment into sport – with the PIF funding Newcastle United and a one-rival breakaway golf tour, LIV. After the PGA Tour finally gave in and agreed a deal with the PIF to unite the tours, the nation has started looking to add another string to its bow in tennis.

According to the Financial Times, Gaudenzi held “positive” discussions with the PIF and other potential investors. But he warned that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund would have to “stick to respecting the history of the sport and the product, working with the current stakeholder rather than against.”

The ATP Tour chairman added: “You have to preserve something which is almost sacred, the rules of the game. This is not a video game, this is not a movie.” It’s the first time that the professional men’s tennis tour has acknowledged talks with Saudi Arabia.

The Daily Mail previously reported that the nation was in discussions to host this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals – the year-end tournament for the top eight players aged 21-and-under – after its five-year deal in Milan expired.

The tournament – which has previously been won by the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas – looks set to move to Jeddah as this year’s host venue is still yet to be officially announced. But it wouldn’t be the first time that a tournament has been staged in Saudi Arabia.

Although it was just an exhibition, the nation staged the Diriyah Tennis Cup at the end of 2022. It attracted big names including Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Nick Kyrgios and Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

They also recently acquired the four largest teams in Saudi Arabia’s football league – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli. Cristiano Ronaldo had already been lured to join the Riyadh-based side Al Nassr at the start of this year in a deal said to be worth £172 million (€200 million) per year, and other big names are now set to follow suit.

Earlier this month, N’Golo Kante agreed to sign for Jeddah-based club Al-Ittihad upon the expiration of his contract with Chelsea. Karim Benzema, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves are also set to join the Saudi Pro League.