by Saudi Arabia’s latest joint venture in tennis – the 6 Kings Slam – is likely to follow a “two days on, one day off” pattern to save Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and the rest of the field from punishment on the official tour . .
This shocking compromise shows the murky nature of tennis politics. A few weeks ago, the ATP Tour introduced rules that would strip top players of their “Platinum Status” if they take part in unofficial events lasting “three or more consecutive days”.
But the Saudis were already well advanced in planning for the 6 Kings Slam: a Riyadh-based exhibition which is understood to offer its winner £4.8 million in prize money, with each player guaranteed £1.2 million straight from their participation accept.
So what are the organizers expected to do? The answer is simple but ingenious. They will probably split the event up so that it doesn’t run for more than two days at a time.
Those organizers – who go by the name of the General Entertainment Authority – have already had to make a last minute date change due to the hip injury suffered by Nadal in the first week of the new season.
Originally, they planned to run the 6KS this month. But urgent meetings with players’ agents during the Australian Open delayed it until the week beginning October 14.
Again, this was a case of working around ATP regulations, as top-30 players are prohibited from appearing in exhibitions in the same week as Masters 1000 or ATP 500 events. The advantage is that for the week starting on October 14th is that it only hosts two ATP 250s, the smallest category, which is given no such protection.
More of a cattle raid than a frontal attack
You can see here how the Saudis are not, at the moment, launching a frontal attack on tennis in the manner of LIV Golf. This event feels more like a cattle raid. And sources suggest that he is not motivated by any great desire to challenge the establishment; a simpler interest in holding major events in Riyadh.
In addition, the announcement of the 6KS – involving Wimbledon champions Carlos Alcaraz, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and Danish rising star Holger Rune – moves to coincide with official negotiations with both trips.
The WTA is expected to announce a three-year deal to stage its finals in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, although some uncertainty has been added to the process by opposition expressed by legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
Meanwhile, negotiations are progressing with the ATP to add Public Investment Fund (PIF) branding to four events, as well as television coverage of Masters 1000 events. The same deal is now thought to include not have yet to sign naming rights to the ranking charts for both the ATP and WTA Tours.
Sources say more Arabic exhibition events are coming soon, probably this year, but the next one is expected to be less controversial as it will be scheduled at the end of the official season.
At the moment, the level of Saudi Arabia’s interest in tennis remains a matter for the established authorities to manage. But the unspoken threat of takeovers like LIV Golf certainly stirred the pot, as far as chaotic tennis governance is concerned.
We are seeing a lot of urgent action from the seven stakeholders who have spent years struggling to make an impact.
‘Premier Tour’ to threaten Saudi Arabia
The most recent development involved plans for a possible new “Premium Tour”, which would include the four slams with between 11 and 14 other major events – each to be walk over a period of 10 days, offering equal prize money, with 96 involved. single players of either gender.
The details for the Premium Tour model are now being prepared by the four major players, with a view to presenting the resulting blueprint in Indian Wells in early March.
Meanwhile, plans revealed by Telegraph Sport in September to merge the two tours – the ATP and the WTA – are progressing commercially, with the creation of a new combined operation “Enterprise” drawing closer ever.
If nothing else, a combined ATP-WTA commercial body would make it much more difficult for the slams to cut the tours from their embryonic “Premium Tour” model.
To clarify the fine print about ATP player penalties, the “Platinum Status” referred to above is part of a tiered membership arrangement, and is required to access shares in the year-end bonus pool (a profit-sharing agreement that paid approx. £10 million last season) as well as pension contributions.
In practice, all the main players have Platinum Status until they decide to beat the tour. It’s a way of trying to keep the workforce in line, which is legally difficult because the players count as sole traders rather than employees.
