As the Abu Dhabi Open of the WTA 500 Tour is going on, a major piece of news comes out of the Middle East for the tennis world. Roger Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick are looking to shift the base of the Laver Cup to Saudi Arabia in the coming years. This could be because many tennis stars are going there very frequently to play exhibition matches.
Roger Federer has an indomitable record at the Middle East Opens (Dubai Open and Qatar ExxonMobil Open), winning 11 tournaments. That is more than anybody else. Expanding the Laver Cup into Saudi Arabia makes perfect business sense for Roger Federer, who has never really tapped into the market in the past and might be looking for ways to keep the tournament profitable, relevant and popular in the future.
Saudi Arabia’s first official tournament started in 2023 with the Next Gen ATP Finals. A WTA Final in Riyadh, Saudi capital, will also start soon. The 6 Kings Slam was the big announcement to come out of that country in the tennis world. It’s an exhibition tournament consisting of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. It was only natural for Federer’s agent Tony Godsick to want to take his and Federer’s brainchild competition there.
This would mean, that in a way, Roger Federer is likely to copy Rafael Nadal. This is because Nadal has paved the way for individual players to look at Saudi Arabia as the next big tennis market by signing a $750 million USD deal, according to multiple media reports, for 5 years with Saudi Arabia. Nadal wants the sport to grow in the country and also set up his academy there. He wouldn’t miss the oft-conducted exhibition matches there as well to promote tennis in Saudi Arabia.
All of this has fetched immense criticism for the 38-year-old Spaniard from his countrymen for supporting the already oil-rich nation on top of growing accusations about their human rights violations. But Rafael Nadal is not the only one who has big plans for Saudi Arabia. Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz played an exhibition match there in December 2023, while the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini and Hubert Hurkacz participated previously in the exhibition Diriyah Tennis Cup in late 2022.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune will join Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the 6 Kings Slam. This makes Roger Federer the biggest name from the 2000s and Grand Slam champions, remaining to be associated with Saudi Arabia in some capacity.
How will this potential Roger Federer move impact the tennis world?
The ATP Calendar is packed with its year-round tournaments. The Qatar Open will happen from 19-24 February and The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships from 26 February to 2nd March. These two ATP Middle East Tours are put between plenty of other European and American ones. If the Laver Cup shift to Abu Dhabi becomes a reality, it will attract several more ATP Tours in the country. This could create an imbalance in the ATP Calendar.
Other ATP 500 and ATP 250 events in other parts of the world could face a huge threat to existence. While the ATP 1000 events could also clash, its high prize money might save it from ceasing to exist. The money is a lot in Saudi Arabia. The oil-rich country can offer such mammoth signing deals to sportspersons to play there that it becomes impossible to resist. Cristiano Ronaldo in soccer is the best example. Due to this money dangled to tennis players, it might be hard to stop them as well.
Just like Ronaldo in soccer, Roger Federer will be a huge draw to their sport-loving countrymen. Federer, who was praised by Lionel Messi after his retirement, is the most popular tennis star of all-time still. Such is their stardom and allure, that any amount of money will be worth it to bring them here. Saudi Arabia will pay its players, and take care of the tournament expenses and others via the Saudi Public Investment Fund. It is a key driver of Saudi Vision 2030 and one of the wealthiest sovereign funds.
Will the Laver Cup move to Saudi Arabia? We shall find out in a few years.
