“Future of tennis” in jeopardy as Marseille chief fears Grand Slam collaboration events backed by Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia threat looms over tennis as the Australian Open and US Open supposedly plan a super league.

“Future of tennis” in jeopardy as Marseille chief fears Grand Slam collaboration events backed by Saudi Arabia

Jean-Francois Caujolle (via Imago)

Saudi Arabia is experiencing growth and advancement in the field of sports. Developing significantly, the Gulf nations have come through different sports like Football, Golf, NBA, and more.

Trying to make strides in the world of tennis, they have made a few strong leaps that have put the other tournaments in danger. 

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Fearing the power of Saudi Arabia in tennis, Marseille chief Jean-Francois Caujolle is afraid of the future of tennis. He also claimed that two of the hard court Slams, the Australian Open and the US Open, are involved in talks over the formation of a new tennis super-league that might be backed by Saudi Arabia. 

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Yes. According to the rumors I have heard, Craig Tiley (the Australian Open boss) and the US Open are active in this process of joining a Super League. And that worries me. Not only as director of the ATP 250 tournament in Marseille. But for the future of tennis. I have always thought that the strength of tennis is its relevance and diversity.
Said the organizer of ATP 250 to L’Equipe.

Similar to how Saudi Arabia created their new tournament, featuring the top stars, rumors are that even the US Open and Australian Open organizers are planning on creating a super league that poses a threat to the originality of tennis, which has been preserved for many years. 

Even Caujolle fears the deregulation may affect the future of tennis. Recently, Saudi Arabia announced its exhibition for the six top stars, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. With their advancement in sports, tennis may see more of the rich country in the future.

Saudi Arabia release prize money for their exhibition tournament ‘6 Kings Slam’

Continuing to make strides in tennis, Saudi has been having continuous discussions with the tennis boards. While they have made some progress with the ATP Council, they would hope to get further with the WTA. 

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (Via ATP)

Recently, the ATP signed a deal to hold the NextGen Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This was a huge step forward for the oil-rich country, and would only aim to go forward. They have also appointed Rafael Nadal as their ambassador and even announced to host an exhibition event ‘6 Kings Slam’, featuring the top stars of the Tour. 

Not only are they calling up big stars, but they are also providing a lot of money for their contribution. Offering around 1.5 million dollars as a participation fee, the winner gets a huge sum of around 6 million dollars, surpassing the Wimbledon championship amount by a large difference. 

By exploiting a loophole, they strategically devised a tournament format that allows the players to participate without losing their platinum status. This way, the country gets its tennis while players do not lose their status with the ATP.

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