BENGALURU, (Reuters) – John McEnroe accepts the inevitability of Saudi Arabia’s growing influence on tennis but the American great fears the country’s ambition to host a 10th Masters tournament could add to player and fan fatigue.
The outspoken New Yorker has been one of the most vocal critics of Saudi Arabia’s big-money push into tennis, describing the potential engagement of the women’s tour with the country as “laughable”.
According to a source with knowledge of the plans, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is keen to own a tennis event featuring the top players, with multiple reports saying they are eyeing a slot before the Australian Open in January.
The tennis season traditionally kicks off after a short break in the last couple of days of December with the warm-ups to the Melbourne Park Grand Slam, meaning players have limited time to rest, recover and work on their game.
“I read recently they’re talking about an event before the Australian Open. That’s going to open up a whole can of worms. So we’ll see what develops,” the 65-year-old McEnroe told Reuters in a video call from New York.
“I’m not a big believer in having the tennis circuit go year round. We need an off season. Not only for players to recuperate but for fans to recuperate. And this is something we’ve always had difficulty with.
“I think tennis has shot itself in the foot for too long.”
SRJ Sports Investments, which was formed by the PIF to accelerate the growth of sports in the Gulf country, declined to comment. Reuters has contacted the PIF for comment.
The PIF, which has already invested heavily in sports like golf, soccer, Formula One and boxing, has steadily made inroads into men’s tennis and replaced Pepperstone as the official naming partner of its world rankings last month.
As part of the multi-year agreement, the sovereign wealth fund will also partner ATP tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin as well as the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah.
“After what I saw happened in golf, I can’t say I’m totally surprised. I think everyone involved in tennis suspected this,” McEnroe said of the growing Saudi footprint.
“I can’t honestly say at this point that I’m a big supporter of this. I don’t agree with it.”