Saudi Arabia and tennis meet again. This time, in the most ostentatious way ever seen.
In Riyadh, the Saudis put together an exhibition without worrying about expenses. They collected 53 Grand Slam titles with the most desirable names on the circuit and put on the table a prize money of 6 million dollars for the champion.
Just by participating, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune added 1.5 million to their account.
With this event, that flouts the ATP rules and it promoted as a Marvel movieSaudi Arabia sends a powerful message to the world of tennis: the country wants more power and prominence. Just as he has been pursuing it for years.
In multiple interviews, CLAY consulted the opinion of sports actors on the growing Saudi influence in tennis.
Is the country seeking to improve its reputation, damaged by human rights violations, through the organization of mega sporting events? Do you resort to sportswashing so that the gender inequalities that dominate there are ignored?
Or isn’t it very positive news that exhibitions this special come out of Europe and the United States, and that tennis impacts new geographies?
Wouldn’t everyone want to be paid better? What doesn’t represent a very good opportunity to claim the tennis player’s “salary”?
Conchita Martínez, for women’s rights
“Money is not everything, there are many values,” said the 1994 Wimbledon champion in an interview with CLAY.
At the end of 2023, when Riyadh was ruled out at the last minute as the venue for the WTA Finals, Martínez celebrated: “I was very happy that the Finals were going anywhere other than Saudi Arabia (…) I don’t see very positive “For the WTA to go there considering the way they treat women in that country.”
The tournament that brings together the eight best tennis players of the year will land in the Saudi capital in 2024, and will have Garbiñe Muguruza, her friend and former pupil, as the director.
Conchita Martínez criticized the option for the WTA to arrive in Saudi Arabia. A year later, her friend Garbiñe Muguruza took over as director of the WTA Finals in RiyadhEtcheverry, happy with more money
“I have no problem,” said Argentine Tomás Etcheverry.
“As long as there is more money to distribute to the players, of course it adds up. And not only for those who are above, but for those who are lower as well. The road cost us all a lot, especially the South Americans,” said the 25-year-old tennis player.
Shortly after his statements, Etcheverry was consistent: he obtained a contract and advertised the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia on social networks.
Kokkinakis and the value of the tennis player
«Anything that has to do with tennis players being paid as they believe they deserve is welcome. If the Saudis want to invest in tennis, I think that’s great for the game,” Thanasi Kokkinakis told CLAY.
«Obviously, you play for the love of the sport and there are many great events, and you don’t want to lose the culture of the Grand Slams and other great tournaments. But if they are willing to come and help finance the players… tennis is a tough sport. You want to get paid. “If you are ranked 80th in the world in any other sport, you earn very comfortable money and you don’t have to worry about day to day,” he added.
Sport as an engine of change, according to Ferrero
“There are many people who think that it is a country that has not been doing things well for a long time with women and that represses a lot,” Juan Carlos Ferrero acknowledged in an interview with CLAY.
Carlos Alcaraz’s coach said that he hopes that hopefully in the future the Saudis can create a sports culture that has a direct impact on reducing inequalities. “Hopefully they can create something in sport so that the situation there can be much more open and everyone can be happier,” he said.
«They have burst into the world of sports with a lot of money, opening up many possibilities in many sports. “It seems like they want to create a niche in tennis.”
The former world number one said he doesn’t talk much about the subject with the two-time Wimbledon champion.
Alcaraz himself, consulted in February following criticism of Nadal for having signed as a sports ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation, defended his colleague and highlighted the virtues of Saudi Arabia’s sports culture.
“It is a country that is developing, it is better for Rafa to get there to expand the world of tennis to places where it was never played before,” said Alcaraz.
Juan Carlos Ferrero during his interview with CLAY / SEBASTIÁN VARELAThe money irresistible
«It is very difficult for players to resist such an amount of money,” said Martín Jaite, former tennis player and current director of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. “It would be very easy to say that you should not go for all the aberrations, but many times money rules… beyond what may seem ethical or not to you,” he added.
Tennis player Nadia Podoroska, opposed to the WTA landing there, asked that the institution listen more to the players: «To women in general. In my case I would not support the WTA Finals being played in Saudi Arabia. It’s good that there is a lot of money in that part of the world and this is a business too. The wheel has to turn, one understands that. And without money we don’t play either, it’s a little difficult on that side, but for me there are limits.
Meanwhile, Macarena Miranda, former tennis player and director of the WTA 125 of Santiago de Chilewelcomes the arrival of tennis in Saudi lands: «I think about the female population in those places and I see it as a turning point through sport. There women can see the tennis players up close and understand that it is possible.
For his part, the German Dietloff von Arnim, who lost the elections for the presidency of the ITF, but continues as leader of the German Tennis Federation, stated that the dialogue must be kept open.
«Saudi Arabia wants to be on the tennis calendar. I think we have to talk to them, we have to listen. And then make a decision based on what is best for tennis. The lack of women’s rights and human rights in general? “They are important arguments, and we really have them to balance the debate, to influence the discussion,” said von Arnim.
2024-10-16 15:19:00