Jimmy Connors believes the presence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would have brought in more than $100 million from the Saudi PIF

Jimmy Connors highlights the effect of Nadal and Federer for their power to pull more money from organizers.

Jimmy Connors believes the presence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would have brought in more than $100 million from the Saudi PIF

(M) Jimmy Connors; (In background) Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (Via Imago)

Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich country, has been trying to make inroads in tennis for a long time, but all efforts were very small. Using the PIF, Saudi has joined hands with ATP to form the PIF ATP, as the organizations have signed a deal together. 

After organizing many events, finally, the country has a good part in the tennis world. In a recent podcast, “Advantage Connors”, the tennis legend and host Jimmy Connors spoke about ATP’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He also mentioned that the impact of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would have made the deal higher than the 100 million dollars, which they offered now.

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Despite the presence of Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz, the Hall Of Famer spoke about the impact of Federer and Nadal on the deal if they were in the mix. 

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I’m telling you this, Nadal and Federer, if they were still in this, that 100 million would have been a different story. That’s just my thought, right off the top. 
Connors on his podcast

With a lot of money involved, the whole ATP had to be associated with the PIF. The rankings of the players are known as the PIF ATP rankings. However, with the power of Federer and Nadal, Connors believes that there would have been a higher deal that would have changed the sport.

Federer has a history of attracting many brands for his level of popularity. Considering that if he was still playing, Saudi might have paid more. 

Jimmy Connors goes unfiltered as he states that everyone changes once the money comes in

The wealthy country of Saudi Arabia has been a major part of sports like golf and F1 and has been trying to expand its reach into other sports as well. Recently, they signed a 100 million dollar deal with ATP, which has affected the tour. 

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (via Imago)

The money was spent for good reasons, but Jimmy Connors reckons that people change when money is involved.

You know when the money comes in, everybody changes their attitude and looks at things a different way. I don’t blame them. You know, I mean, tennis second, you know, golf has already been through with all that. The difference in the PGA and the LIV circuit and what’s going to happen with them. 

Not everyone is happy with the new Saudi deal, but it only extends to the ATP side of tennis. Women are strongly against the association with Saudi and even refuse to go there to play an event or two. Will they expand their radius more? Only time will tell. As of now, Saudis are doing a good job of getting many people talking about them. 

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