One small step for tennis outside the Western world or one giant leap for ostentatious sportswashing?: Saudi Arabia's Six Kings Slam & what it means

Saudi Arabia and tennis meet again. This time, in the most ostentatious way ever.

In Riyadh, the Saudis created an exhibition without worrying about expenses. They put together 53 Grand Slam titles with the most desired names on the tour and put a prize money of 6 million dollars over the table for the champion.

Just for participating, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune added $1.5 million each to their accounts.

With this event, which sidesteps ATP rules and is promoted like a Marvel movie, Saudi Arabia is sending a powerful message to the tennis world: the country wants more power and prominence. Just as it has been pursuing for years.

In multiple interviews, CLAY asked the sport’s stars from the present and the past about Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in tennis.

Is the country seeking to improve its reputation — damaged by human rights abuses— by organising mega sporting events? Is it resorting to sportswashing in order to ignore the gender inequalities that dominate there?

Or it really means a positive thing that such special exhibitions are coming out of Europe and the United States, and that tennis is making an impact in new geographies?

Wouldn’t everyone like to be better paid, and doesn’t it represent a very good opportunity to vindicate the ‘salary’ of the tennis player?

Conchita Martinez, for women’s rights

"Money is not everything, there are many values," said the 1994 Wimbledon champion in an interview with CLAY.

At the end of 2023, when Riyadh was ruled out at the last minute as the venue for the WTA Finals, Martinez celebrated:

"I was very happy that the Finals will go anywhere other than Saudi Arabia (…) I don’t see it as very positive that the WTA would go there considering the way they treat women in that country."

The tournament that brings together the top eight players of the year will indeed land in 2024 in the Saudi capital, and will have Garbiñe Muguruza, Martinez’s friend and former pupil, as the director.

(This feature was originally written for CLAY and has been reproduced in its entirety.)

Etcheverry, happy with more money

"I don’t have a problem," said Argentinean Tomás Etcheverry.

"As long as there is more money to distribute to the players, of course it adds up. And not only for those at the top, but also for those at the bottom. The path has been very tough, especially for the South Americans," said the 25-year-old tennis player.

Shortly after his statements, Etcheverry stayed true to his word: he signed a contract and promoted Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) on social media.

Kokkinakis and the value of the tennis player

“Anything to get players paid what I think they’re worth, if Saudis wanna invest in tennis, I think is great for the game,” Thanasi Kokkinakis told CLAY.

“Obviously, you play for the love of the sport and there are a lot of big events, and you don’t want to lose the culture of the Grand Slams and other big tournaments. But if they’re willing to come and help fund the players… tennis is a tough sport. You want to get paid. If you’re ranked 80th in the world in any other sport, you make very comfortable money and you don’t have to worry about the day-to-day,” he added.

Sport as a driver of change, says Ferrero

"There are a lot of people who think that this is a country that has not been doing things right for a long time with women and that represses a lot,’ acknowledged Juan Carlos Ferrero in an interview with CLAY.

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach said he hopes that in the future the Saudis can create a sporting culture that will have a direct impact on reducing inequality.

"Hopefully they can create something in sport so that the situation there can be much more open and everyone can be happier," he said.

"They have come into the world of sport with a lot of money, opening up a lot of possibilities in a lot of sports. They seem to want to create a niche for themselves in tennis."

The former World No. 1 said he doesn’t talk much on the subject with the two-time Wimbledon champion.

Alcaraz himself, consulted in February following criticism of Nadal for signing on as a sports ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation, defended his colleague and highlighted the virtues of Saudi Arabia’s sporting culture.

"It’s a country that is developing, what better than Rafa going there to expand the world of tennis to places where it was never played before," said Alcaraz.

The irresistible money

"For the players it is very difficult to resist such an amount of money,’ assumed Martín Jaite, former tennis player and current director of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. ‘It would be very easy to say that you don’t have to go there because all the aberrations, but many times money rules… beyond what you may think is ethical or not," he added.

Tennis player Nadia Podoroska, opposed to the WTA landing there, called for the institution to listen more to the players:

"To women in general. In my case I would not support the WTA Finals being played in Saudi Arabia. It’s good that there is a lot of money in that part of the world and this is a business as well. The wheel has to turn, you understand that. And we don’t play without money either, it’s a bit difficult on that side, but for me there are limits."

Meanwhile, Macarena Miranda, former tennis player and director of the WTA 125 in Santiago de Chile, sees the arrival of tennis in Saudi Arabia in a positive light:

"I think of the female population in those places and I see it as a turning point through sport. There, women can see tennis players up close and understand that goals are possible."

For his part, Germany’s Dietloff von Arnim, who lost the last election for ITF president but remains as head of the German Tennis Federation, said the dialogue must be kept open.

"Saudi Arabia wants to be on the tennis calendar. I think we have to talk to them, we have to listen. And then make a decision based on what is best for tennis. The lack of women’s rights and human rights in general? These are important arguments, and we really have them to balance the debate, to influence the discussion," von Arnim said.