The Saudis conquering the world one sport at a time - after football, tennis is on the menu

Whether we like it or not, Saudi Arabia is slowly gaining the favor of the world for organizing large sports events. The World Cup will be held there in 2034, the finals of the Supercup of Spain and the Supercup of Italy have already been played in Riyadh, the Dakar Rally will pass through this country - and the best tennis players on the planet will head there.

And this year already. Admittedly, only for an exhibition tournament for now, but there is no doubt that it is a matter of time before the ATP will allow the Saudis to organize a bigger event. After all, they have lured in some of the most influential names in tennis today - Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev (the four first-placed on the world list), along with the winner of 22 Grand Slams, Rafael Nadal, as well as the young Dane, Holger Rune.

So far, it is only known that the name of the tournament is "Slam of Six Kings" and that it will be held in October. Admittedly, there is still no precise date, although it is clear that the Saudis are slowly conquering the market, as they will organize the exhibition for the second year in a row. Last year, Djokovic and Alcaraz met there, but now they will be followed by four more stars.

"I'm excited to come back to Riyadh and play in front of a lot of Saudi fans," said the Serbian, Alcaraz followed suit - noting that Nadal recently became an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation, which only means that tennis also conquers that part of the world.

In the official ATP calendar for 2024, there is no place to insert a new competitive tournament, however, the fact that Qatar and Dubai are in it, from the Middle Eastern countries, suggests that Saudi Arabia will soon get a place under the auspices of the world organization. And no doubt, pay big for it.

Of the major tournaments, only the Masters in Paris is on the program in October, so there is enough space for the best to "hop" to Riyadh before France.