REPORTED: Tennis on trade deal for………

With a $2 billion take-it-or-leave-it offer to combine the men’s and women’s tours, Saudi Arabia has made a move in the tennis world,

as Telegraph Sport can exclusively disclose.

According to sources, as the four major slams departed the room following the Premium Tour negotiations last Saturday in Indian

Wells, ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi asked the Masters events to remain behind. Gaudenzi then gave them an overview of an offer

made by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. The agreement is reported to be time-sensitive, and if it is rejected, it

would expire in 90 days. The four grand slams would not be included in this PIF deal as it stands.

The Saudis have long desired a Masters 1000 competition, which Gaudenzi has been lobbying for since last summer. This would be the

biggest benefit for PIF. The Masters 1000 event would take place during the first week of the season. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley,

who created the United Cup team competition in the same calendar month, was vehemently against this concept. The ensuing hostility

between Gaudenzi and Tiley sparked the criticism of their “Premium Tour” plan last year.

The fact that Gaudenzi traveled to Riyadh in order to engage with PIF rather than joining the other tennis stakeholders at the

Australian Open in January looks even more noteworthy now. A modest sponsorship agreement was revealed last month.

Given that United States Tennis Association chief revenue officer Lew Sherr said the ATP and WTA chairmen should be included to

Saturday’s Premium Tour meetings out of courtesy, this move might escalate tensions between the two tours and the four majors.

It is now clear that Gaudenzi had a different unifying plan in mind, one in which he would rise to the position of tennis commissioner

for the two tours.

The ATP has already rescheduled their yearly tournament meetings from Miami the following week to Madrid in the early part of May,

when the PIF offer would probably be decided.

A Saudi Masters competition would serve as the year’s first tournament under the new model, and it is well known that the WTA has

long been preparing to hold its finals in Riyadh early in November. Visits to the Kingdom would now be the highlights and troughs of

the redesigned tennis schedule, now known as the PIF Tour.

Priorities would undoubtedly include more joint events and a unified selling of the next TV and data rights, with only the slams to one

side. The WTA’s much lower level of financial success than the ATP—with their last recorded yearly sales of just under £90 million in

2022 compared to the ATP’s £238 million—is one of the reasons this hasn’t happened yet.

Male players find it difficult to support equal-parts mergers because they worry about the dilution of their own market value.

However, a sizable monetary sweetener from PIF can get rid of that difficult situation.

In response to the Premium Tour model, which threatens to devalue the ATP and WTA Tours, Gaudenzi has undoubtedly responded

dramatically. It’s a typical action from a man known for completing risky transactions.

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