Alcaraz was crowned the "Overlord of the Battlefield", and then Sinner emerged as a Renaissance artist; Denmark's Rune became a Viking and passed on the hope of victory to Medvedev with a racket containing the power of Thor; The latter rode a majestic black bear and transmitted this divine power to Nadal; Nadal responded with an earth-shattering blow that instantly ignited the excitement of the audience; At this time, Djokovic, a hermit in the snow, stands out as the wolf king.
This is not a Hollywood blockbuster trailer, but a promotional film for the upcoming 2024 Saudi Arabia "Six Kings Grand Slam", which opens today. The four-day exhibition match, which is not part of the ATP points system, brought together six of the brightest stars in men's tennis today. In the midst of a devilishly dense schedule, the stars still make time to travel to Saudi Arabia for this exhibition match, and the only driving force behind it is the tempting huge appearance fee. However, it is precisely at a time when the long-standing structural problems of professional tennis are beginning to come to the fore that a fierce battle is taking place over capital and the future direction of tennis.
Superstars are moving for "gold".
Not long ago, Spain's Alcaraz expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the dense tennis schedule: "I'm the kind of player who has to play a lot of mandatory tournaments every year, and there will probably be more in the next few years, which will wear us down. Alcaraz, however, was one of six players in the exhibition match, and he travelled to Riyadh after the Shanghai Masters.
Dietrov ·, president of the Germany Tennis Association, said that the participation of superstars such as Alcaraz in the "Six Kings Grand Slam" exhibition matches is debatable, in response to the current heated discussion of the tennis schedule: "The top players are constantly complaining about the heavy schedule, and it seems a bit contradictory if someone complains about the schedule and at the same time participates in an exhibition match. ”
How exactly did Saudi Arabia convince its most well-known tennis players to take time out of an already crowded tennis season to travel to Riyadh for a tournament with no points ranking? Even Nadal, who is retiring, is willing to attend. According to reports, the prize money for this exhibition match is staggering – each player can be paid up to $1.6 million for their appearance, which is undoubtedly decisive; And the final winner of the "king of kings" was able to pocket a huge prize of 6.42 million US dollars.
This is an unprecedented amount of money in the tennis world. The men's singles winner at the Australian Open will receive US$2.2 million, the French Open US$2.7 million and Wimbledon and the US Open each with US$3.6 million. The championship prize money of this tournament is nearly eighty percent higher than that of Wimbledon and US Open. A Grand Slam champion needs to win seven matches in two weeks, while the Six Kings Exhibition Match is much easier. According to the schedule, Djokovic and Nadal will advance directly to the semi-finals, while the other four players will have to compete in the quarter-finals. Medvedev and Sinner will battle it out for a chance to face Djokovic, while the winner between Alcaraz and Rune will face Nadal. As a result, the winner only needs to participate in a maximum of three tournaments to win a grand prize of more than $8 million, which is a unique value for money.
The huge prize money is the biggest magic weapon for Saudi capital to attract tennis. The country's city of Jeddah last year became the host city for the 2023-2027 Next Generation ATP Finals (in which players under the age of 21 participate), and last year the tournament offered a record total prize pool of $2 million to all participants. In addition, Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, has also won the right to host the WTA Finals from 2024 to 2026 and tripled the prize money for the event.
The structural problem of multi-headed management is the main cause
The deeper reason why tennis is getting closer to Saudi Arabia is the structural problems that have accumulated in the tennis world over a long period of time. Lewis · Schell, CEO of United States Tennis Association, said, "Our sport is going through a tough time of poor performance. ”
The management system of tennis is complex and is controlled by seven governing bodies: the federation that runs the four Grand Slam tournaments, the two major tour organizations (ATP, WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). These entities operate in silos, pursuing different goals and interests, and it is difficult to form a unified development strategy. The players had to go through a long season of 11 months, which undoubtedly added to the physical and mental burden of the players. In addition, the Associated Press noted that professional tennis players receive a significantly lower percentage of their earnings compared to athletes who participate in team events, as most of the profits are used to pay for tournament governing bodies. For players who fail to make it to the top 100, they often find it difficult to cover their entry costs with prize money.
In this regard, tennis managers have generally recognized that the existing structure must be changed. However, how, why and when to change is still to be explored. But it is undeniable that the strong intervention of Saudi capital is a foregone conclusion. There is a lot of dialogue and negotiation taking place about the future of tennis among the organizers of major Grand Slam tournaments, professional tours of the WTA and ATP, players, agents and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
Currently, support is being sought for two main proposals. The first is the proposal to promote the four Grand Slam tournaments, which aims to abolish the existing WTA and ATP structures, create new "premier tours", and create "challenge tournaments" with 75 to 100 events, with equal prize money for male and female players. The other proposal, proposed by the ATP, aims to work with the WTA to sell media rights and sponsorship rights, while maintaining two separate tour structures. Whoever gets closer to the four Grand Slams and the two major tour organizations will have a better chance of achieving change if they get closer to Saudi capital with huge sums of money. It is reported that the ATP and WTA are temporarily one step ahead, and their proposals plan to receive financial support from PIF, including a 1000-point tournament in Saudi Arabia.
In the face of the serious challenges posed by PIF, if timely action is not taken, Saudi capital is likely to create a new event of its own, as it has done in the world of golf. The existing tour system needs to be overhauled, and only by responding quickly and effectively meeting the demands of players can Saudi Arabia be prevented from once again taking control of another top professional sport. Otherwise, once a large number of players move to the Arabian Peninsula and the rest remain on the ATP and WTA tours, the duel between top athletes will be drastically reduced, which in turn will weaken the overall audience base of tennis and have an immeasurable negative impact on the future of tennis.