The ATP opening a bidding process for an additional top-level tournament that appeared "all but certain to land in Saudi Arabia" illustrates the “deepening turmoil and uncertainty among officials at the highest level of the game," according to Matthew Futterman of THE ATHLETIC. Those officials are "caught between their concern about how much control of their sport they want to cede to the Saudis," while also being "terrified about the prospect of a LIV Golf-style Saudi disruption of tennis if the country does not ultimately get something close to what it wants.” In recent months, the wrestling match over the future of tennis has "become a soap opera filled with moves and countermoves, bruised egos, and deals that collapse and then spring back to life just when it seems like they are about to be added to the growing ash heap of efforts to revamp a sport that nearly everyone agrees desperately needs revamping.” Earlier this month, it appeared that the PIF “had the inside track to become perhaps the biggest financial investor in professional tennis” and to “potentially fund a new joint-commercial venture between the tours and other efforts to grow the tennis business.” According to tennis insiders, that deal is “no longer on the table.” Futterman noted the possibility of further angering the Saudis is the “most harrowing possibility given how the country has disrupted golf by spending billions of dollars to buy players and form a rival league and tour to the established PGA Tour” (THE ATHLETIC, 3/26).
