Published February 06,2024
Subscribe
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will headline a brand new exhibition event in Saudi Arabia, organisers mentioned, as debate swirls about tennis’s push into the conservative nation.
The Serb and the Spaniard, with 46 main titles between them, will likely be joined by Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner on the 6 Kings Slam.
World quantity three Daniil Medvedev and seventh-ranked Holger Rune will even play the occasion in Riyadh in October, oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s newest foray into the game.
Women’s greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova final month criticised the circulate of Saudi cash into girls’s tennis, as officers think about staging the end-of-season WTA Finals there.
“We did not help build women’s tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia,” learn the headline for his or her joint opinion piece within the Washington Post.
But Tunisian star Ons Jabeur hit again, saying “people should be more informed about what’s happening in Saudi”, the place a variety of financial and social reforms are in progress.
Rafael Nadal, who has hinted this can be his closing season, signed up as a tennis ambassador for Saudi Arabia, whose efforts to enhance its worldwide repute via sport are sometimes branded “sportswashing”.
As effectively as internet hosting F1 and top-level boxing, and signing a swathe of soccer superstars for its home league, Saudi Arabia will even maintain a variety of large occasions within the subsequent decade together with the 2034 World Cup.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
