Masters 1000, WTA Finals, Next Gen... When Saudi Arabia sets its sights on tennis
It was only a matter of time before Saudi Arabia, already omnipresent in many international disciplines, extended its influence to tennis and became a major player in the calendar, hosting the WTA Finals, the Next Gen Finals, and a Masters 1000 from 2028.
Massive investments in several disciplines
To understand this new offensive, one must look at other sports. After transforming its football league into a global showcase, attracting superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo to Al-Nassr, the Saudi kingdom also acquired football clubs, such as Newcastle United (England), or organized a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the city of Jeddah (since 2021).
These initiatives reflect a precise strategy: making sport a pillar of Saudi soft power. The same model has already taken hold in golf, where LIV Golf, backed by the sovereign fund, competes with the PGA Tour with massive prize money, between 30 and 100 million dollars per participant.
In 2019, the trial run that set the tone
For tennis, the beginnings date back to 2019, with the creation of the Diriyah Tennis Cup. This first exhibition on Saudi soil, organized in the middle of December, already offered one million dollars to the winner. Russian Daniil Medvedev won it with relative media indifference.
An event far from suggesting that a few years later, another competition with a similar format, called the Six Kings Slam, would allow the winner to pocket a sum six times larger and play a key role in a much broader investment policy.
The full investigation available this weekend
The full investigation "Tennis, Saudi Arabia's new playground" will be available the weekend of November 29-30.
Madrid 
Next Gen ATP Finals 
