ATP announces a 10th Masters in Saudi Arabia starting in 2028
- Thread starter aldeayeah
- Start date
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NachoGPT
Guest
Excellent example but the opposite of what you're intending it to mean.
CL including four teams from the top divisions ruined the ****ing thing. It's meaningless globalised drivel now.
aldeayeah
G.O.A.T.
Skyrim Djokovic almost makes me like Djokovic lol
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NachoGPT
Guest
“Do you get to the GOAT district very often? Oh what am I saying, of course you don’t”
Giocoswitch
Semi-Pro
Totally agree, if they had replaced another masters I'd be fine with it but it's clear they've just chucked a ton of money at it on a whim and got themselves added to what exists, with no concern for how it affects the schedule. As you say this isn't the only sport where this is happening, but I still think this is one of the more blatant cases of sportswashing since it changes how everything has operated for decades just because someone wanted a big tournament. Wouldn't be surprised if it got upgraded to a slam at some point
TennisGrandpA
Legend
that wasn’t the point , leagues are very prestigious in football yet UEFa wanted more CL actions , why can’t tennis have more slam action when masters are way less meaningless than league if we compare uts equivalent and neither players and fans treat them remotely close to Slams?? Tennis desperately needs reform or it will never be global. When slam is on even non tennis fans talk about it, imagine 8-9slams per year and 4-6 masters only and tennis will get bigger audience.
NoleFam
Bionic Poster
Yea plus they're replacing multiple 250 and 500 tournaments that lower ranked players depend on even beyond the imagery of it all. Also, why do we need 10 Masters and change landscape of tennis? I just hate that at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what it looks like or what it changes as long as people can line their pockets. It's really all about the money no matter what.
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
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NachoGPT
Guest
What do you think about RAFA being an ambassador for Saudi?
Shaolin
Talk Tennis Guru
And a 6th in Nebraska, a 7th in Angola, an 8th in Papua New Guinea, a 9th in Antarctica and 10th in Thailand.
Just water down the Slams completely and destroy all records and prestige. Perfect.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
They won't, but I bet they could - simply by throwing money at it. Essentially create "partial greenhouse" tennis facility where they can grow and maintain grass. Essentially artificial climate control and irrigation would do the trick (and shielding the courts from the sun when necessary). Again, they won't, but they have the money to if they really wanted to do it.
Ombelibable
Hall of Fame
Like adequate human rights for women.
Ombelibable
Hall of Fame
Below dystopian imagery courtesy my tennis journalist friend at a local newspaper, on his day off:
They called it the Fifth Slam.
It wasn’t added to the calendar so much as imposed on it; announced in a midnight press conference, flanked by gold banners and a skyline that looked less built than commanded into existence. Within a year, the old rhythm of tennis: four sacred stops across continents and seasons had been broken. Now there was a fifth, played under a sun that never seemed to set and lights that never turned off.
The courts were perfect. Too perfect.
Constructed in the middle of the desert, the complex shimmered like a mirage: twelve stadiums, each climate-sealed, each capable of simulating any condition: clay, grass, hard at the press of a button. Matches could begin on grass and end on clay. Wind, humidity, even crowd noise were algorithmically controlled. “Fairness,” the organizers said. “Consistency.”
Players called it something else.
No one arrived by choice. Rankings dictated participation, and participation dictated survival ie contracts, endorsements, even visas were quietly tied to compliance. Withdrawals required “medical review,” conducted by officials no one could appeal. A few players tried, early on. They disappeared from draws. Then from broadcasts. Then from memory.
The audience was global, but distant. Spectators in the stands were curated; invited, screened, silent when necessary. The real crowd lived behind screens, where reactions were filtered, delayed, and sometimes rewritten entirely. Applause could swell at the tap of a technician’s finger. Boos could vanish mid-echo.
Every match was watched. Not just by fans.
Sensors tracked everything: heart rate, eye movement, hesitation between points. The data fed into a central system that didn’t just analyze performance; it predicted it. Commentators began speaking in probabilities rather than opinions.
“Forehand down the line: 82% likelihood.” "Break point conversion: 67%.”
At first, it felt like insight. Then it started to feel like instruction.
There were rumors the system could intervene. A ball that clipped the net and died instead of bouncing over. A line call that lagged just long enough to disrupt momentum. Lights that flickered for a fraction of a second during a toss. Nothing you could point to. Everything you could feel.
The matches grew longer.
Not in time, but in weight. Players stopped celebrating points. Smiles became rare, then suspicious. Every rally felt observed, evaluated, nudged. The idea of “form” disappeared, replaced by compliance with patterns no one fully understood.
The Fifth Slam trophy was massive, a spiraling tower of metal and glass that reflected the winner in a dozen distorted angles. Lifting it was mandatory. So was the speech.
“I am honored,” they all said, reading from the same teleprompter. “To compete at the highest level of the sport.”
Behind them, fireworks erupted in perfect synchronization, each burst identical to the last.
The other four tournaments still existed, technically. But they felt smaller now, like exhibitions. Their traditions of grass stains, clay dust, rain delays, seemed almost primitive compared to the engineered perfection of the desert. Young players grew up dreaming not of history, but of access. Because access was everything.
Only the top 64 were invited each year. Everyone else played in a sprawling qualifying system that never quite ended, a global circuit feeding into the Fifth Slam like tributaries into a controlled sea. Rankings fluctuated wildly, influenced by metrics no one outside the system could see.
Some said the system was learning. Others said it was deciding.
There was one match people still whispered about the final where a player, down match point, refused to serve. Just stood there, ball in hand, staring into the far camera.
The delay stretched. Five seconds. Ten. A minute.
For a moment, the system hesitated.
Then the lights cut out.
When they came back, the scoreboard showed the match was over. The player had lost. The highlights package, released minutes later, showed a clean ace on match point. No hesitation. No defiance.
Just perfection.
By the next morning, no official record of the delay existed.
And the Fifth Slam continued, flawless as ever, its matches smoother each year, its outcomes more precise, its players more… aligned.
In the desert, under lights that never flickered again, tennis had become something else entirely.
Not a game.
A system that always won.
Razer
G.O.A.T.
Nice.
The Aceserver
Professional
Typical. Just throw money at it. No one will show up, no one will be in the stands, but hey “We bought one of those things where they hit the ball with a thing. It’s a big one too cuz it’s got a 1 and three 0’s.” Can’t wait for them to run out of money.
Arrest her, and her! They're tempting men, with those saucing non-uniforms!
Rafa with his straying eyes!
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Rafa is not an ambassador for Saudi. He is an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation that is a member of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The ATP says on its website what his role is:
19 Dec 2025: ¤¤ Nadal delights fans in Jeddah
Nadal, who has served as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation since the start of 2024, will remain in Jeddah through Sunday's final ...
The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings promotes tennis throughout the Kingdom. His involvement includes encouraging grassroots participation, supporting training programs, and helping plan the future of the sport. ¤¤
Rafael Nadal delights fans in Jeddah | ATP Tour | Tennis
Fan Zone at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF had extra buzz Friday night when Rafael Nadal made a special appearance in Jeddah.
www.atptour.com
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NachoGPT
Guest
Semantics.
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Nope. I don't think, for example, that the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is an ambassador for the White House.
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Bartelby
Bionic Poster
So is Rafa going to the KSA to share the current misery of his delighted fans?
Rafa is not an ambassador for Saudi. He is an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation that is a member of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The ATP says on its website what his role is:
19 Dec 2025: ¤¤ Nadal delights fans in Jeddah
Nadal, who has served as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation since the start of 2024, will remain in Jeddah through Sunday's final ...
The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings promotes tennis throughout the Kingdom. His involvement includes encouraging grassroots participation, supporting training programs, and helping plan the future of the sport. ¤¤
Rafael Nadal delights fans in Jeddah | ATP Tour | Tennis
Fan Zone at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF had extra buzz Friday night when Rafael Nadal made a special appearance in Jeddah.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
But the United States federal government doesn't fund the USTA which in turn funds grassroots tennis programs. The Saudi Tennis Federation is funded by the Suadi government one way or another.
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Has the United States Tennis Association (USTA) join their government's actions in that part of the world?
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Bartelby
Bionic Poster
octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Im(moral) Winner
G.O.A.T.
The losers of the tournament will get the Khashoggi treatment
Match_Point
Rookie
Where is our grass masters?!?
Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
GCC in general feel like a totally changed environment from this point on. A lot of wealthy foreigners with a lot of options and mobility probably reconsidering how much time and money they want to spend in the region now and withdrawing financially. I know Fed had a lot of money tied up in Dubai during his playing days because he liked it as a training base and it offered a lot lifestyle-wise. It's not appropriate to focus on tennis given the very sad events that are happening in Iran but for sure a lot of tennis tournaments in the region are going to be affected and KSA's bargaining position has changed a lot, too.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Better_Call_Raul
Legend
The nine Masters and the Majors are all held in countries who have dozens of players ranked in the ATP 100.
Not a single Saudi Arabian player is ranked in the ATP 1000. Not one player in the top one thousand.
Good luck to the KSA Ambassador Rafa on developing KSA talent.
How often does Rafa even step foot in the KSA other than to play golf, schmooze, and mingle with the gentle Sheikhs?
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Ombelibable
Hall of Fame
Except who'd want to play at a grass event at that time of the year (rhetorical)
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Iran are showing them the folly of that right now.
Better_Call_Raul
Legend
\
If the war drags on for years will the ATP have to seriously consider pulling ATP events out of KSA for security and economic reasons?
Insurance companies are already denying/limiting coverage for events.
If the war drags on for years will the ATP have to seriously consider pulling ATP events out of KSA for security and economic reasons?
Better_Call_Raul
Legend
Empty stands are a bad look.
But for the purposes of sportswashing, it matters not one bit many are in the stands.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Missile craters on their courts are an even worse look.
The USO is sportswashing as well, not just the KSA.
The USO is sportswashing as well, not just the KSA.
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octobrina10
Bionic Poster
Djoko fanatic, the launch of an ATP Masters 1000 in Saudi Arabia is part of the strategic partnership deal between the ATP and PIF (the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia), not Rafa's deal (though he is "committed to supporting future events in an ambassadorial role" according to his agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation).
Post #1:
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...arabia-starting-in-2028.792467/#post-19044984
Secondly, I repeat that Rafa is not a KSA Ambassador. He is an ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) that is a member of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
https://tennissaudi.sa/en/news/news...to-grow-tennis-and-sport-in-saudi-arabia.html
According to Rafa's agreement with the STF, he will "spend dedicated time in the Kingdom each year to help nurture and plan the development of boys and girls in the sport as well as grow further interest in tennis amongst the country’s young population":
Rafa Nadal sets new target to grow tennis and sport in Saudi Arabia | News details | Saudi Tennis Federation
Saudi Tennis Federation announces new ambassador role for global tennis icon
tennissaudi.sa
Rafa has attended the Next Gen ATP Finals (2024 & 2025), participated in the STF events, visited tennis clubs, held tennis clinics:
Post #1,478:
Post #1,486:
Rafa in Saudi Arabia
Tien went straight to Rafa in the stands after winning the title
:
Rafa watched the entire match from the stands, the man in a white shirt next to him is Tomeu Salva:
Screenshots
Vamos!
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Tien went straight to Rafa in the stands after winning the title
:Rafa watched the entire match from the stands, the man in a white shirt next to him is Tomeu Salva:
Screenshots
Vamos!
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(See more posts in the Nadal News 3.0 thread.)
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BlackMagic
New User
I have no problem with this. I welcome all diversity. Hopefully they can get rid of Cincinnati, Toronto, and Paris and have a location in South America and another in Malaysia or Indonesia.
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