Tennis represents Saudi Arabia’s new sporting target. After Nadal and Djokovic, Roger Federer could also turn to the kingdom. Image: keystone
While Djokovic has made Saudi Arabia his new playground and Rafael Nadal has become ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF), Roger Federer could soon also have a link with the kingdom.
12.02.2024, 16:5112.02.2024, 17:29
Saudi Arabia has just achieved a new feat. She will welcome Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal during the 6 Kings Slam, an exhibition tournament bringing together the best players on the planet. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune will also be present; everyone will try to win the 6 million dollars awarded to the winner.
Exhibitions in the Middle East, and more particularly in Saudi Arabia, have become common in recent years. Within the kingdom, there was first the Diriyah Tennis Cup. Then the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup, a tournament that we mentioned at watson.
Until now, the events have always taken place in winter, between the end of the season and the start of the new financial year. This will not be the case with the 6 Kings Slam, since the competition will be played in October, at a time when there are many ATP tournaments. Hence this famous tour de force.
How Saudi Arabia is circumventing the ATP rules?
To organize its exhibition tournament at this time of year, and not penalize the players, General Entertainment Authority, which manages the 6 Kings Slam, has thought of everything. According to Telegraph, the event will be divided into several parts, and will follow the rhythm of “two days of competition, one day of rest”, so that players do not lose their “Platinum” status, and therefore part of the multi-million Bonus Pool of dollars paid each year by the ATP. What’s more, the 6 Kings Slam will take place when there are only 250 tournaments on the schedule, as the world’s top 30 are not allowed to participate in exhibitions on weeks when 500 and 1000 events are scheduled.
Djokovic, Nadal… and soon Federer?
Novak Djokovic, already present in Saudi Arabia on December 27 (to face Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition), will therefore return to the Saudi courts in a few months. However, this will be a first for Rafa, but he is already closely involved with the kingdom, since a few weeks ago he became the ambassador of the Saudi tennis federation.
We talked about it here ⬇️
Roger Federer, for the moment, has no link with the country. During his career, he was more associated with Dubai. The Swiss used to spend his winters there, in order to prepare for his season. He also won the city tournament eight times. Or two titles less than in Basel, and a similar figure compared to Wimbledon, another of its gardens.
“Roger” owns several properties in the United Arab Emirates. Everyone also remembers his few racket shots exchanged at the top of the Burj Al Arab, in the company of Andre Agassi. Without having been inducted, Federer has still “been a great ambassador for Dubai”, believes Colm McLoughlin, CEO of Dubai Duty Free.
Could the Basel resident be involved in one way or another in Saudi Arabia in the future? Yes, if we are to believe the words of his long-time agent, the American Tony Godsick. How? Via the Laver Cup, driven by the player since 2017, and courted by the Saudis.
The competition, which pits “Team Europe” against the rest of the world, currently alternates between the Old Continent and North America for its holding each season. But in a video interview given to Southgerman newspaperin which Federer and Godsick detailed the next edition of the Laver Cup, Tony Godsick suggested that the competition could, in the more or less near future, turn to Saudi Arabia.
“One day the Laver Cup could be held in Saudi Arabia. We alternate between European cities and cities in the rest of the world. I expect Saudi Arabia to be part of this discussion in the future”
Tony Godsick, Federer’s agent and Laver Cup director
The government in Riyadh has been seeking to change its image for several years. Moreover, many believe that Saudi Arabia uses sport to cleanse the treatment of women, homosexuals or dissidents. Godsick, for his part, brushes aside this strategy, and instead sees a way to change things, like Nadal a few weeks ago.
“Sport is a universal language. It can promote dialogue and change”
Tony Godsick, Federer’s agent and Laver Cup director
The next Laver Cup will be held next September in Berlin, Germany. At the moment, no one yet knows where the competition will take place the following year. Only one certainty: it will not be in Europe.
Will it be organized in Saudi Arabia from 2025? This is one possibility among others.
The choice of this country could nevertheless offer the Laver Cup a certain renewal. Because if the event has been a success since its beginnings, the 2023 edition has not remained in the annals of tennis. Without Federer on the courts, it even seemed very dull. All that remains of this tournament is the very long interview with the Swiss in front of fans committed to his cause. Very far from the emotions of the previous season, when he hit the ball one last time in the company of Rafael Nadal.
If Roger Federer and his associate choose Saudi Arabia, like the ATP with its “Youth Masters” last year, the two men would then be placed under fire from critics, like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic before them.
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2024-02-12 15:56:32
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