RIAD-. Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal They will play an exhibition tournament in October in Saudi Arabia in which the best tennis players in the world will participate, the organizers announced, in the midst of a debate on the development of tennis in this conservative country.
Along with the Serbian and the Spaniard (who between them have 46 Grand Slam titles), there will be Carlos Alcaraz, the recent winner of the Australian Open Jannik Sinner, the number 3 in the ranking Daniil Medvedev and the Dane Holger Rune in an event that will be held in Riyadh in October, the capital of this oil monarchy that seeks to increase its prominence in the sport world.
Nadal, who already warned that he could be playing his last season, was named ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation in January.
Saudi Arabia, a country accused of violating fundamental rights and using the sport To improve its image internationally, it also plans to organize the Women’s Masters.
Racquet legends such as the Americans Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova recently appealed to the WTA to renounce this project, although the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (currently No. 6 in the ranking) estimated that “people should be better informed” about the countries of the Gulf, where social and economic reforms have been carried out in recent years.
In addition to tennis, Saudi Arabia is already the scene of a Formula 1 and MotoGP Grand Prix, the Dakar Rally, boxing matches, alternative golf and paddle tennis circuits and the Spanish and Italian soccer super cups, in addition to having invested a lot of money to bring some of the best footballers of the moment, such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar, to the national championship.
Source: AFP
