The pharaonic dream behind Rafael Nadal’s move to Saudi Arabia | Relief

Melbourne.- Rafael Nadal is not the target. Rafael Nadal is the way. Saudi Arabia’s controversial signing of a 22-time Grand Slam champion whose details have not been disclosed. This is just another lever that will turn the dream of the pharaohs of an Arab country into reality: acquiring the rights to organize the Masters 1000 tournament. and place yourself on the tennis world map.

With one of the most charismatic tennis players in history on their side, Arabia hit the board. in the midst of negotiations that the leading tennis organizations have been conducting for several months to be able to understand what is happening.

So far, the most the country has achieved is hosting the ATP Next Gen Finals, the Masters Cup for emerging players, but this is only the first step. Already in 2023, he was going to organize the WTA finals, the masters tournament and It is no secret that his ambition is to buy the rights to the Masters 1000 tournament, the highest category of tournaments after the Grand Slam.Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

The problem is how all the pieces of the puzzle can fit together: according to what he posted Athletic in the beginning of November, The Gulf country would be interested in buying a license for the Mutua Madrid Open or Miami Masters 1000., both owned by giant IMG. However, Feliciano Lopez, director of the Madrid tournament, assures that Saudi Arabia plans to include a tenth Masters 1000 tournament on the calendar.

“Arabia has great intentions to enter tennis. They have a huge project at the sports level for international expansion. They started with football, golf, and want to take up tennis. Saudi Arabia is making very strong investments in sports in general. It’s not something specific to a particular sport,” Feliciano himself told Relevo a few weeks ago.

“In tennis, they want to get the Masters 1000. They recently had the Next Gen tournament, which was the first test.. And now they want to have the Masters and they are achieving it,” added Feliciano Lopez. “The ATP is deciding whether to award the Masters 1000 and is in discussions with all interested parties. But it will add another Masters 1000 to the calendar. This will be the tenth. “You need to find the week because the world tennis calendar is not the easiest in the world.”

From exhibitions to the circuit

Since 2019, Saudi Arabia has organized an exhibition tournament in December that serves as a mid-season pre-season training for tennis players.

In exchange for juicy cash prizes – 2022 champion Taylor Fritz earned a million euros in three matches – the Arab country guarantees the presence of big stars. A few weeks ago, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic competed at an exhibition in Riyadh.

“Saudi Arabia has the right to host many tournaments. I’ve never played there in official tournaments and we’ll see what happens, but I have no doubt that I will play there in the future,” said Carlos Alcaraz himself. a few months earlier, during a tournament in Queens.

And, of course, he is right. Tennis stop in Saudi Arabia seems inevitable

. If he resists, it will be the only sport that will not succumb to the petrodollars, which are so powerful that they have managed to defeat even Jon Rahm. A golfer who actively and passively stated that he would not participate in the Saudi Arabia tour, but ultimately signed his name in exchange for $550 million.

In addition, racquet sport has already stopped in the Middle East several times. Doha and Dubai have hosted ATP tournaments for 30 years, while Abu Dhabi has hosted exhibition events since 2009.

All tennis roads lead to Arabia. And with Nadal in partnership everything will be easier.