ANDhe possible landing of Saudi Arabia in tennis is viewed favorably by Nick Kyrgios. The Australian was forceful through social networks. “Finally. They see the value. They are going to pay us what we deserve to be paid. Sign me up”, he wrote along with several emojis of a bag of money.
Kyrgios has already refused to play the last Davis Cup finals to play an exhibition in the Saudi country for more than a million pounds. “Right now I’m busy to go play in Saudi Arabia for six figures,” the Australian commented on Instagram when asked about his absence from Davis. In this way, he could be seen at the Diriyah Tennis Cup, held in December and in which Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev were also present, among others.
Kyrgios’s words come after he Andrea Gaudenzi, President of the ATP, acknowledged in an interview with the Financial Times that had been carried out with“positive” talks with potential investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund, to develop tennis-related infrastructure, events and new technology. “They must respect the history of the sport and the product. You have to preserve something that is sacred, the rules of the sport. This is not a video game, this is not a movie,” Gaudenzi said.
This is not the first tennis adventure with Saudi Arabia. It is possible that the Next Gen Finalswhich bring together the best under 21 players in the world, are held in Jeddah after several years in Milan. The agreement would move the tournament to this location for the next five years.
Can tennis follow the same path as golf?
Outside of the ATP, The WTA has already signed an agreement with the CVC capital fund, for the investment of 150 million dollars in the women’s circuitwhile the International Tennis Federation came close to take the Davis Cup Finals, which have been held in Madrid and Malaga, to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, as a way to make the project profitable
“What is different to what we are seeing (in other sports) is that this is an investment in the current game structure and not an investment in an alternative option. But like everything in the world, there are always many changes. So you have to be aware of what is happening and be close to it,” said Craig Tiley, director of Tennis Australia.
“The sport of tennis is in a healthy place right now because there’s that conversation, probably unlike other sports where there wasn’t that conversation,” Tiley added.
