Saudi Arabia to host a combined ATP and WTA-1000 event in 2025 as tennis bosses bend the knee: Reports 

The Next Gen ATP Finals are already being held in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia to host a combined ATP and WTA-1000 event in 2025 as tennis bosses bend the knee: Reports 

Saudi Arabia set to host a combined ATP and WTA 1000 event from January 2025 (Image via Sports Business Journal)

Saudi Arabia looks all set to host a combined ATP and WTA 1000 event starting from 2025. Italian Tennis Federation president, Angelo Binaghi, who was the first to confirm that the Next Gen ATP Finals will be held in Jeddah, has once again fueled the rumors about Saudi Arabia getting to host an ATP event. As per reports coming in, the tournament will be held in January and will open the season. 

Binaghi has indirectly confirmed that Saudi Arabia will be hosting either a Masters event or a combined ATP and WTA 1000 event. Talking to Italian media house Il Corriere, Binaghi said that hopefully a Masters event will Saudi Arabia’s tennis cravings. He also emphasized the fact that tennis has a better market in Saudi Arabia.

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I'm trying to convince Gaudenzi, president of the ATP, that tennis is not like other sports. Arabia may be an attractive market but situations that work, like ours, must be protected. You can't be afraid that Saudi Arabia will create a parallel circuit, like in golf.
Binaghi to Il Corriere

He then unknowingly revealed that Saudi Arabia will be getting a tournament from the 2025 season onwards.

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And I hope that the Master 1000 that the ATP will give to Arabia in January from 2025, perhaps combined with the WTA, will be enough to satisfy their desire for tennis. The season will start from there. A revolution, of course. But the Finals must stay here (in Italy).

Will Saudi Arabia Masters replace a tournament or it will be an add-on?

While the worries about the safety of women’s tennis players persist, there is another major question that is not yet answered is that whether the new Masters event in Saudi Arabia will be an add-on to the current tennis calendar or if it will replace a tournament. The ATP and WTA season kicks off with the United Cup in the last week of December and extends to the first week of January.

Novak_Djokovic-Stefanos-Tsitsipas
Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas with their AO 2023 trophies (Image via Tennis-Infinity.com)

Meanwhile, the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, is held in the last two weeks. If the Saudi Arabia Masters will act as the season opener, either it will have to replace the United Cup (which seems not possible as well as illogical) or replace the four ATP 250 tournaments held before the start of the Australian Open.

But even if that happens, there will be logistical challenges as it would involve a lot of traveling. It will be interesting to see how the ATP and the WTA manage to sneak in a Masters tournament that involves so much traveling when players have already been calling out the scheduling.

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