Outgoing ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli said the Saudi Tennis Federation has done an 'amazing job' at promoting tennis in schools in the country. AFP
Outgoing ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli said the Saudi Tennis Federation has done an 'amazing job' at promoting tennis in schools in the country. AFP
Outgoing ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli said the Saudi Tennis Federation has done an 'amazing job' at promoting tennis in schools in the country. AFP
Outgoing ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli said the Saudi Tennis Federation has done an 'amazing job' at promoting tennis in schools in the country. AFP

ATP 'committed' to bringing Masters 1000 event to Saudi Arabia 'potentially from 2028'


Reem Abulleil
  • English
  • Arabic

Departing ATP chief executive Massimo Calvelli has described the possibility of bringing a Masters 1000 tournament to Saudi Arabia as an “incredible opportunity”, adding the event would likely make its debut in 2028.

At the Sport Investment Forum in Riyadh last week, Calvelli revealed he was in the kingdom to discuss the matter with the PIF, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which already has strong ties with the ATP and WTA, including sponsorship of the rankings of each tour.

The ATP made its first official venture into Saudi Arabia by awarding Jeddah the hosting rights of the Next Gen Finals from 2023 to 2027.

A multi-year strategic partnership between the ATP and PIF was announced in February 2024, which saw the PIF become the official naming partner of the ATP rankings, and a sponsor of some of the tour’s biggest events, including Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and the ATP Finals.

The women’s tour followed suit three months later and announced its own deal with the PIF, which became the first naming partner of the WTA rankings. The news came on the heels of the WTA’s decision to host the year-end championships in Riyadh from 2024 to 2026.

Calvelli said talks between the ATP and the PIF began in earnest in the summer of 2022 and the tour executives were “ultimately sold on a vision”.

“The vision of bringing tennis here for the long term. The vision of making tennis part of the broader ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, from a social standpoint, from an economic standpoint, and all the many different dimensions that come with it. So we completely changed our approach in regard to Saudi Arabia,” explained Calvelli.

The Italian said discussions about staging a Masters 1000 tournament in Saudi Arabia “are going very, very well” and that the tour is “excited” about the opportunity.

“Since the first time that I visited Saudi Arabia, it was, I want to say, two-and-a-half years ago, to today, there are 50,000 kids that are playing tennis in schools in Saudi, which is something that we are very proud of,” said Calvelli.

“The Saudi Tennis Federation has done an amazing job at promoting and facilitating that. On the back, obviously, of the fact that we're taking tennis tournaments here, and we have a partnership with PIF. But we think that the ground is fertile and there is a very strong appetite here.

“So we're very committed to the opportunity, and we think if we're going to bring a top-tier event, a Masters 1000 event, the outlook is potentially from 2028. By the time we get there, in terms of investments in infrastructure and the demand that we will have created together, working with the different stakeholders here, like PIF or the Saudi Tennis Federation, certainly there is going to be an incredible opportunity.

“Even more so if we can couple that with bringing the women's side, our women counterparts as well, right? That's the other side of the equation.”

  • Coco Gauff celebrates after beating Qinwen Zheng to win the WTA Finals at King Saud University Indoor Arena in Riyadh, on November 9, 2024. Reuters
    Coco Gauff celebrates after beating Qinwen Zheng to win the WTA Finals at King Saud University Indoor Arena in Riyadh, on November 9, 2024. Reuters
  • United States' Coco Gauff after beating Zheng Qinwen of China 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. AFP
    United States' Coco Gauff after beating Zheng Qinwen of China 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. AFP
  • Coco Gauff holds the Billie Jean King Trophy after her three-set victory over Qinwen Zheng. Getty Images
    Coco Gauff holds the Billie Jean King Trophy after her three-set victory over Qinwen Zheng. Getty Images
  • Qinwen Zheng after losing to Coco Gauff. Reuters
    Qinwen Zheng after losing to Coco Gauff. Reuters
  • Coco Gauff after winning match point to claim her first WTA Finals crown at the age of 20 and become the youngest player to win the title since Maria Sharapova in 2004. Reuters
    Coco Gauff after winning match point to claim her first WTA Finals crown at the age of 20 and become the youngest player to win the title since Maria Sharapova in 2004. Reuters
  • Coco Gauff celebrates after beating Qinwen Zheng after fighting back from 2-0 and 5-3 down in the deciding set. Reuters
    Coco Gauff celebrates after beating Qinwen Zheng after fighting back from 2-0 and 5-3 down in the deciding set. Reuters
  • Qinwen Zheng had won a tour-leading 31 matches since Wimbledon going into the final. Getty Images
    Qinwen Zheng had won a tour-leading 31 matches since Wimbledon going into the final. Getty Images
  • Coco Gauff became the youngest WTA Finals finalist, at the age of 20, since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Getty Images
    Coco Gauff became the youngest WTA Finals finalist, at the age of 20, since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Getty Images
  • Seventh seed Qinwen Zheng defeated Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini in the group stage, also losing to Aryna Sabalenka, before battling past Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 in the semi-finals. Reuters
    Seventh seed Qinwen Zheng defeated Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini in the group stage, also losing to Aryna Sabalenka, before battling past Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 in the semi-finals. Reuters
  • Coco Gauff beat the No 1 and No 2 in the world rankings - Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek - on her way to the title in Riyadh. AP
    Coco Gauff beat the No 1 and No 2 in the world rankings - Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek - on her way to the title in Riyadh. AP
  • Zheng Qinwen had won six career titles heading into the match, including claiming Olympic gold at the Paris Games this summer. AFP
    Zheng Qinwen had won six career titles heading into the match, including claiming Olympic gold at the Paris Games this summer. AFP
  • Coco Gauff celebrates after winning a point against Zheng Qinwen. AFP
    Coco Gauff celebrates after winning a point against Zheng Qinwen. AFP
  • Third seed Coco Gauff had won nine WTA Tour titles, and three this season, going into the match. Reuters
    Third seed Coco Gauff had won nine WTA Tour titles, and three this season, going into the match. Reuters
  • Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng before the final in Riyadh. The pair had only faced each other once before, when Gauff won 7-6, 6-1 in the Italian Open quarter-finals in Rome earlier this year. AP
    Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng before the final in Riyadh. The pair had only faced each other once before, when Gauff won 7-6, 6-1 in the Italian Open quarter-finals in Rome earlier this year. AP

Calvelli has resigned from his post as CEO and will exit the ATP at the end of June to join American private investment firm RedBird Capital as operating partner.

According to a Bloomberg report, RedBird Capital, which bought AC Milan in 2022 and owns a minority stake in Liverpool Football Club via its investment in the Fenway Sports Group, is in the process of acquiring the Madrid Open and the Miami Open for over $1 billion as part of a consortium led by Ari Emanuel, the co-founder and former CEO of Endeavor.

In Riyadh, Calvelli spoke about the current financial state of tennis and how important it will be to merge the commercial arms of the ATP and WTA to shop the rights of both tours together.

“I would say tennis right now is extremely relevant. Tennis is booming. If you look at all the metrics, everything that we are doing is fantastic. There is incredible following. The commercial value in terms of sponsorship are growing, so we're in a very good place. But if you look at where the opportunity is for the future, it's reducing fragmentation,” said Calvelli.

Tennis has seven different governing bodies running the sport, the ATP, the WTA, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and the four grand slams.

“The first step in reducing that fragmentation would be to bring the two associations together, the men's and the women's,” he added.

“Monetisation of the rights of the league should happen in an integrated fashion. It should be one company that is responsible for maximising the value of the rights of both associations. So not only would it reduce significantly some of the fragmentation that we face now, but it would also leverage the unique selling point of tennis, which is putting men and women on the same stage equally, truly equally. Which is an amazing place to be, but we don't do enough of a good job at capitalising on that unique selling point. So by doing that, certainly that would be better.”

  • Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates his victory over USA's Taylor Fritz in the ATP Finals title match in Turin, Italy, on Sunday, November 17, 2024. EPA
    Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates his victory over USA's Taylor Fritz in the ATP Finals title match in Turin, Italy, on Sunday, November 17, 2024. EPA
  • Jannik Sinner capped a successful season with the ATP Finals title in Turin. EPA
    Jannik Sinner capped a successful season with the ATP Finals title in Turin. EPA
  • USA's Taylor Fritz hits a return to Jannik Sinner in Turin. AFP
    USA's Taylor Fritz hits a return to Jannik Sinner in Turin. AFP
  • Jannik Sinner lifted the ATP Finals title in front of home fans in Turin. EPA
    Jannik Sinner lifted the ATP Finals title in front of home fans in Turin. EPA
  • Taylor Fritz lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner in the ATP Finals title match. EPA
    Taylor Fritz lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner in the ATP Finals title match. EPA
  • Jannik Sinner concluded a near perfect season with the ATP Finals crown. EPA
    Jannik Sinner concluded a near perfect season with the ATP Finals crown. EPA

Calvelli cited the two deals in place between the PIF and the ATP and the WTA as a prime example of a wasted opportunity, given how each tour separately negotiated its own partnership with the Saudi fund.

“It was two separate processes with complications and challenges that were unnecessary,” he added.

“Ultimately now they sponsor both the men's ranking and the women's ranking, and it gives the ability to tell incredible stories across both dimensions. But it was a little bit of a process to get there.

“It's also in the interest of the fans, the ability to tell joint stories across men and women. That's what the world is asking, that's what the fans are asking. So it's a big opportunity for the sport.”

Calvelli believes that merging the tours’ commercial interests will help grow their business exponentially, and he is projecting earnings will more than double in size by 2030.

“We're nonprofit, but we're not nonprofit in the sense that we use whatever we make – profits – for charitable efforts, in the sense that we have to give it back to the members. So everything that we make is distributed out,” said Calvelli.

“When you look at 2025, we're projecting to distribute at the ATP $290 million to our members equally. The WTA is looking at distributing approximately $150 million. So in 2025, you can say that these two entities together will distribute $440 million in profit.

“We've been spending a lot of time working together and modelling what a combined future, a joint future, would look like. And the estimate is that we will probably be at $985 million in distributions in 2030. So just over five years, you're more than doubling the size of the business.”

The ITF and the four grand slams each adopt different financial and distribution models, but Calvelli is convinced there could be a way to narrow the gap between all stakeholders.

“For the future we can define a model where there is better alignment of the distribution. It's something that we believe strongly in and we've been advocating for that. And ultimately it will help the entire ecosystem in growing and thriving,” he concluded.

Student Of The Year 2

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Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal 

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    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
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The National in Davos

We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

US tops drug cost charts

The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.

Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.

In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.

Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol. 

The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.

High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.

Your rights as an employee

The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.

The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.

If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.

Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.

The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.

Other IPL batting records

Most sixes: 292 – Chris Gayle

Most fours: 491 – Gautam Gambhir

Highest individual score: 175 not out – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Highest strike-rate: 177.29 – Andre Russell

Highest strike-rate in an innings: 422.22 – Chris Morris (for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017)

Highest average: 52.16 – Vijay Shankar

Most centuries: 6 – Chris Gayle

Most fifties: 36 – Gautam Gambhir

Fastest hundred (balls faced): 30 – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Fastest fifty (balls faced): 14 – Lokesh Rahul (for Kings XI Punjab against Delhi Daredevils in 2018)

 

Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric

Transmission: 2-speed auto

Power: 571bhp

Torque: 650Nm

Price: Dh431,800

Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor

Transmission: 2-speed auto

Power: 455bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: from Dh431,800

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

UAE finals day

Friday, April 13
Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Updated: April 15, 2025, 9:30 AM