Saudi Arabia's PIF to launch new ATP Masters 1000 tournament

PARIS :Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will launch a new ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the Kingdom from 2028, marking the first expansion of the elite category in its 35-year history, the ATP and PIF-owned SURJ Sports Investment said on Thursday.

The new event will make Saudi Arabia the 10th Masters 1000 host, joining Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi called the announcement “a proud moment that has been years in the making,” saying Saudi Arabia had “shown a genuine commitment to tennis — not just at the professional level, but also in growing the game more broadly.”

The event will be owned and operated in Saudi Arabia, staged over one week with a 56-player draw on outdoor hard courts, and will not be mandatory for players.

SURJ Sports CEO Danny Townsend said they were working with the ATP to create “a world-class stadium and the infrastructure to deliver the tournament,” with an announcement expected in months.

“We've got a couple of years to work that through, and we've got a bunch of different options around both the Giga-Projects (large-scale, multi-billion dollar initiatives) that PIF have around the country, but also other facilities,” Townsend said.

“I'd say, we're a couple of months away from a pretty exciting announcement on that. I think it's more like three options. So Riyadh, being the centre of the business community and sports community in Saudi is likely to be the place. But we've still got work to do on that.”

Townsend stressed the new Masters would not replace the Six Kings Slam, a PIF-backed exhibition featuring six top male players.

“None of this is about replacing anything,” he told a media round table in Paris