Tennis Mailbag: How New Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 Event Could Shake Up The Sport

Hey everyone …

• Here’s nan latest Served podcast:

• How does Shohei Otani’s postseason feat stack up against nan tennis greats? We measurement in. 

• Unsolicited for nan NYC crowd, statement nan centennial concert astatine Lincoln Center adjacent week.

• The WTA announced nan assignment of Valerie Camillo arsenic its caller chair, charged pinch starring nan adjacent shape of maturation for women’s master tennis. Camillo will statesman her domiciled connected Nov. 17.

Onward …

I listened to nan emergency Served. The level of my car has a dent successful it from my jar dropping connected nan news of nan Saudi 1000. If location was ever impervious that nan schedule will never, ever spot nan wholesale alteration AR’s talked astir it’s this. (Unless, Sistine Chapel-like, nan Lord touches tennis and creates a surviving Commissioner of Tennis. I ain't holding my breath.)

Skip Schwarzman

• Here is nan emergency podcast episode connected nan caller Masters 1000 successful Saudi Arabia. This news was nan biggest root of mailbag chatter this week. Here are 10 points without mentioning nan connection sportswashing:

1) The apical players person been relentless and accordant successful their cries that nan play is excessively long, excessively taxing and location are excessively galore mandatory events. As players return to societal media—from a infirmary bed successful 1 case—the ATP has been strikingly and disappointingly silent. Then, a fewer days later, we get nan gushing property release astir a 10th Masters 1000 event? Tennis, baby.

2) Props to nan Saudis here. LIV Golf was—and is—a disaster, a dispute takeover effort that went sideways and damaged a athletics (and various reputations) on nan way. Lesson learned, nan Saudi foray into tennis was overmuch smoother, gentler and strategic. Saudi Arabia held immoderate exhibitions, landed nan WTA Finals, sponsored nan rankings, sewage nan blessing of folks for illustration Rafael Nadal and Billie Jean King, and, pinch minimal fanfare aliases controversy, present we are. 

3) Oddly, this splashy announcement neglected to mention where successful nan tennis almanac this arena would fall. Not precisely a insignificant detail. (February is nan evident place, though location is speculation it could statesman successful precocious December earlier nan Australian swing.) It besides mentioned 2028 arsenic nan start, but I support proceeding 2027.

4) Included successful this Saudi windfall? Money for nan ATP buyback pool. What does this mean? The ATP tin (must?) commencement buying retired events and decluttering nan calendar. This windfall besides includes nan balanced of an description fee, a distribution to nan different events for allowing nan caller feline into nan club.

5) Assuming this arena slides into February, it’s bad news for nan South American events. Which is simply a pity because these are immoderate of nan astir spirited, enthusiastically attended and vibrant tournaments. And location is simply a early prima who could singlehandedly prop them up. (He conscionable won Basel.)

6) The ATP held unfastened bidding for this 10th Masters event. But ideate you’re Qatar—not precisely a state strapped for cash—and you’ve been a loyal, sanction-paying ATP national for decades. And your rival state fundamentally jumps nan line?

7) What do we make of nan truth that this splashy announcement was not made successful conjunction pinch Six Kings? You person Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner successful Riyadh 72 hours earlier this broke. Wouldn’t you want them arsenic portion of nan rollout?

Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz to triumph nan Six Kings Slam. / Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

8) Technically, arsenic a Masters 1000 that is not mandatory, this Saudi arena tin salary quality fees. If players are getting seven-figure payouts for a low-energy, three-day exhibition, ideate nan fees that stars can—and will—command for a Masters 1000. 

And, wherever are nan women? Again and again, we perceive whispers astir this associated WTA-ATP task yet happening. Again and again we hear—and agree—that tennis events are champion erstwhile men and women are together. Again and again, we perceive that Saudi Arabia really wants to nonstop a connection that it values men and women equally. Wouldn’t this person been an perfect clip and spot for a associated event?

9) Sportswashing adjacent: It bears repeating that accepted sports economics don’t matter here. This is not nan accustomed calculus: i.e., making much successful media rights, tickets, suites, sponsors and merch (and now gambling revenues) than you disburse successful net and prize money. This is astir a government-sponsored rebrand of an full country. On a equilibrium sheet, this makes nary sense. Do nan back-of-the-napkin mathematics connected nan Six Kings Slam, and it could easy person mislaid 5 times what it earned. It doesn’t matter. 

10) For each nan complaints and concerns, let’s return a glass-half-full view. Like astir workforces, tennis players want much money. Getting Saudi Arabia into nan tennis fold is successful work of that. Men’s tennis could usage a big-ticket arena aft nan buzz of Australia and earlier nan buzz of Indian Wells. If nan buyback money thins nan herd of tournaments, it looks little galling to adhd a 109th Masters 1000.

 O.K., I lied. One sportswashing point: I effort to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt naive and cynical; vigilance while keeping an unfastened mind. It’s easy to spot really investing successful sports (and drama and euphony fests) tin launder a reputation, put concealer complete quality authorities abuses and normalize an autocracy. But it’s besides easy to spot how—if you’re trying to diversify an economy, clasp your younger population, show nan world you’re a tolerant, modernized, fun-loving nine and demystify what is mysterious to many—investing successful nan soft powerfulness of sports makes sense. 

In this case, Saudi Arabia is indisputably moving successful a progressive direction. But it still is only a fewer years from the sidesplitting of a journalist, a execution that, per U.S. intelligence, was done pinch knowledge (or astatine nan behest of) its leader. It still criminalizes homosexuality. It still ranks adjacent nan bottommost among countries successful position of women’s rights.

Saudi Arabia has small tennis history to speak of. There is currently nary Saudi subordinate successful nan ATP’s apical 1000. Yet this state throws millions of dollars astatine players who play earlier crowds comparable to those astatine a assemblage dual match. Its sovereign wealthiness money sponsors nan rankings. It recruits erstwhile players arsenic “ambassadors.” Now there’s astir apt … what? .... a half cardinal dollars being thrown astatine a nonmandatory event?

This could beryllium a awesome jackpot for tennis. This could springiness emergence to a big of antheral and female stars from a caller market. This could unfastened eyes and doors. This could beryllium a bonanza for tennis. This could beryllium tennis helping a state modernize and amended its quality authorities record.

But it would beryllium bully if location were immoderate acknowledgement— by sports bodies and Saudi Arabia—of really different and bonzer this is. What a important departure from norms (social, economic, cultural) this is. What a foundational alteration this could beryllium for tennis. What a consequence this carries. 

This is not adding a week betwixt Wimbledon and Roland Garros, a caller mixed doubles format aliases adding a fewer days to nan Masters 1000. 

We’ll spot what happens. Let’s hope, sincerely, that it useful out. 

• There was besides a batch of chatter astir nan NBA gambling scandal. Let’s push a spot to adjacent week, arsenic location are truthful galore angles to this, but present are immoderate preliminary thoughts:

1) Prop bets alteration everything. They alteration nan risk-reward ratio for those considering committing bad acts, change nan level of coordination and collusion needed to vessel and displacement nan calculus for leagues. (They besides undermine nan league’s justification for endorsing gambling. It’s going to hap anyway; we whitethorn arsenic good person nan sunlight of gambling companies flagging erratic betting patterns. Wrong. You ever had vicinity bookies. You ne'er had them offering action connected whether a subordinate will person less than 3 assists aliases miss a 2nd serve.)

2) Any athletics wherever 1 jock tin corrupt aliases manipulate honorable title without involving teammates is going to beryllium vulnerable. It’s difficult for a moving backmost to spell rogue. It’s not difficult for a hoops subordinate (or tennis player) to deviate.

3) This is often framed arsenic greed. He makes $9 cardinal a year. Why would he consequence it all? Too often, we place duress, aliases what organized entities would do if Player X didn’t cooperate and play ball.

Simple question: Is Elena Rybakina going to triumph different major? I dream so!
Katie B.

• Simple answer, sure! I wouldn’t guarantee it. But I decidedly wouldn’t norm it retired either. Larger point: If you are successful this futurology game—and astir of us, reluctantly, are—why categorically norm thing out? A qualifier will ne'er triumph a major! Emma Raducanu would for illustration a connection pinch you. Roger Federer is cooked! Nadal is done! Novak Djokovic has been deposed. (Each won a awesome northbound of property 35.) We will ne'er spot different teen triumph a major! Enter Coco Gauff. Predictions are each good and good, but certitude seems silly. In this case, Rybakina—a awesome champ astatine Wimbledon, runner-up successful Australia, and a awesome subordinate still successful her mid-20s, who appears to beryllium trending successful nan correct direction—could triumph another. She could not. But it seems arsenic foolish, mean-spirited and attention-seeking to declare, flatly, that she won’t.

Elena Rybakina has not won different awesome since claiming nan 2022 Wimbledon title. / Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Jon, what is going connected astatine nan USTA? Weren’t they expected to person a caller main executive by now?
Dave K.

• An ironclad rule: These searches return longer than first anticipated. When immoderate business says, We dream to capable nan domiciled and denote a successor by Date X,  adhd a fewer months. With respect to nan USTA, nan thought that nan main executive would denote his resignation Memorial Day play and—while preparing to shape nan tournament—a caller leader would beryllium named earlier nan extremity of nan tournament? It was ever a dubious timeline. Here we are successful precocious October, and I americium told location is nary soul candidate, 3 extracurricular candidates, and that nan announcement ideally comes earlier nan extremity of nan year.

Glass half-full: It speaks good of nan USTA, nan existing activity and nan processes successful spot that you tin suffer your main during Roland Garros and still put connected a smashingly successful, record-attended and record-revenue U.S. Open.

This is often a dilemma tennis faces. The knee-jerk consequence is to bring successful an extracurricular candidate. We request caller thinking! Someone to shingle this up! Someone from F1. Or nan NBA. As was astir nan lawsuit erstwhile nan ATP needed a CEO—someone from nan NFL. But tennis is peculiar successful that it requires a basal familiarity pinch its governance, circuit structure, nan domiciled of nan majors, etc. I’ve heard stories of caller executives going into meetings, confusing, say, nan dates of Indian Wells and Miami aliases not knowing that Davis Cup doesn’t confer ranking points. These are understandable I’m-learning-as-I-go questions. But you suffer nan room erstwhile you’re surrounded by tennis lifers and deficiency nan accumulated knowledge.

A corollary: Executives travel from nan extracurricular and are accustomed to a definite structure, governance and metabolism. They recognize tennis’s quirks and limitations. What do you mean we can’t conscionable move nan dates of tournaments? What do you mean IMG owns events and has a tourney committee rep AND represents players and has a subordinate committee rep? What do you mean nan fields person an equity successful nan Laver Cup? They get easy disappointment and leave.

Saw nan Hall of Fame nominees travel out. Seems overseas that Daniel Nestor is not successful nan Hall yet, nor moreover up for it this year. What gives?

Alex, Thunder Bay

• Elbows Up! Yeah, I’m pinch you. Speaking only for myself, I would—and did—vote for Daniel Nestor without hesitation. He has much than 1,000 wins, 91 titles and is maxed retired connected good-guy points. He achieved nan No.1 ranking, won 8 doubles majors, 4 mixed doubles fields and Olympic gold. (For bully measure, Nestor has a singles triumph complete Stefan Edberg.) After nan Bryan brothers, it’s difficult to conceive of a much worthy doubles candidate.

• World No. 5 and 2025 Charleston champion Jessica Pegula will return to nan Charleston Open to take sides her title, opening March 28.

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