‘SIGN ME UP’: Nick Kyrgios vows to take the Saudi cash as he responds to Mail Sport’s report on Middle East nation targeting tennis with 10 dollar-sign emojis
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Nick Kyrgios is ready and willing to take millions on offer from Saudi Arabia if they turn their sights on tennis.
Mail Sport reported on Saturday that the head of the men’s tour, ATP Tour chair Andrea Gaudenzi, revealed he held talks with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
Responding to a discussion on the news on Twitter, Kyrgios replied in capital letters writing: ‘FINALLY. THEY SEE THE VALUE. WE ARE GOING TO GET PAID WHAT WE DESERVE TO GET PAID. SIGN ME UP’ with 10 dollar-sign emojis.
The 28-year-old Kyrgios has an estimated wealth of $18million from his career in tennis.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia have already swallowed up golf, taken over Newcastle United, lured star footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to their own domestic league while there are reports of a £16billion offer to buy the rights to Formula One.
Nick Kyrgios, No. 33 in ATP rankings, is all for Saudi Arabia’s investment in professional tennis
Kyrgios, who’s often outspoken, made an estimated $18million from his career in tennis
Last December the ground was laid with an array of the world’s top men playing in the Diriyah Cup, an exhibition tournament. Mail Sport reported on Saturday that sources in the game believe that the biggest move may well come in the shape of the ATP Finals also moving to the Kingdom.
‘You have to preserve something which is almost sacred, the rules of the game,’ Gaudenzi told the Financial Times. ‘This is not a video game.
‘If you’re a golf fan you want to see the top players against each other. You want one ranking and one simple story.’
In May, Mail Sport reported that tennis’s NextGen finals, the end-of-year competition for the world’s eight best under-21 players, looks set to move to Jeddah – the capital of Saudi Arabia.
And just last week, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz said he had ‘no doubts’ that he will compete in Saudi Arabia at some point and said the country has the power to hold plenty of tournaments.
‘I’ve never played an official tournament over there, and let’s see how it is going to be in the future,’ he said after his Queen’s Club win on Sunday. ‘But, well, I have no doubts that I’ll play over there in the future.’
With Saudi Arabia recently heavily investing into the world of sports, it should be noted that the ATP do not claim ownership of any of the four Grand Slams, which includes The Australian Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
The latter’s grounds are currently owned by The All England Lawn Tennis Club – a private members’ club which organizes and stages the annual tournament.
And while the disunity of tennis’s governance makes it ripe for the taking, the logistical issues of staging a tennis event make it more complex than golf.
Critics have accused the PIF – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – of being a vehicle for the country to improve its reputation — ‘sportswashing’ — as it faces criticism of its human rights record.
Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.
