The winds of change are about to sweep through men’s tennis, with the jostling of influence at the top of the sport set to move up a gear with a major announcement.
Saudi Arabian tennis chiefs have been eager to bring an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event to their kingdom for some time and now it appears we are edging closer to an announcement of a tournament that will be staged for the first time in the month of February.
At present, there are nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in the tennis calendar and they are the most prestigious events in men’s tennis outside of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Now the tennis rumour mill suggests a tenth ATP Tour Masters 1000 event will be added to the calendar, with Riyadh likely to be confirmed as the host city.
There had previously been suggestions that the Saudi Masters event could take place in January, as a warm-up for the Australian Open, but that would have been a hammer blow to the first Grand Slam of the year as they have several weeks of build-up to their event.
So the February date appears to be a suitable alternative, as ATP Tour chiefs try to accommodate the ambitions of the Saudi Tennis Federation.
It is unclear when this new tournament will get underway after the ATP Tour already confirmed they will stage nine ATP 1000 events in 2026 and they may not be in a position to add another for 2026 due to existing TV broadcast agreements, so it is anticipated that the Saudi Masters 1000 could start in 2027 or even 2028.
The tournament will form part of a ‘new swing’ in the ATP Tour season, with tournaments in Qatar and Dubai part of a February schedule that will see the world’s top players flock to the region to compete for big points and mega prize money.
While most of the ATP Masters 1000 events are mandatory for top players to compete in, there is an expectation that this tournament in Saudi Arabia will initially be optional for the top players to enter.
Yet it is almost certain that most will play given the huge points on offer and the mega prize money up for grabs.
More Tennis News
Jannik Sinner defended over controversial and ‘ironic’ Saudi money comments
Two major tennis tournaments are ‘up for sale’ – could they end up in Saudi Arabia?
The addition of a major ATP Tour event in Saudi Arabia has long been spoken about and this move would fend off the threat of the kingdom making any attempt to set up a breakaway tennis tour, as they have done with their LIV Golf breakaway league that has seen a host of top players leave the PGA Tour and European Tour and divide the sport.
Saudi tennis chiefs flexed their financial muscle as they hosted the Six Kings Slam exhibition event last October that featured Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune.
Adding more tournaments to an already crowded schedule is likely to be met with some resistance from leading players, with Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev among the top players calling for a reduction of tournaments.
“Probably they are going to kill us in some way,” said Alcaraz as he spoke about the current hectic tennis schedule last year. “Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of injuries.
“Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a tournament. I’m not going to lie – I have felt this way a few times already.
“Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all. But as I’ve said many, many times, I play my best tennis when I smile and enjoy it on court. That’s the best option to keep motivation.”
There will be a big loser if this new tournament is confirmed and that will be the South American tournaments that are currently being played in front of big crowds.
Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile are among the nations that host big ATP Tour events in February, but they may all be threatened by the announcement of a new Masters 1000 event on the other side of the world as they would struggle to attract top players to their events.
While top players like Zverev have been handed big appearance fees to play in the South American clay court events this month, they may be tempted to take the cash and ranking points on offer by playing in two or three events ‘Desert Swing’ events in Qatar, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
That would be a hammer blow to the profile of South American tournaments, who have long argued they should be handed a Masters 1000 tournament to boost tennis in their continent, but the Saudi money opens doors in all sports and tennis is certain to have a bigger influence in the region in years to come.
The post Huge change coming in men’s tennis – and there will be a big loser appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply