Australian Open Chief Open To Idea Of Saudi Investment As Kyrgios Lends His Backing - UBITENNIS
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Australian Open Chief Open To Idea Of Saudi Investment As Kyrgios Lends His Backing

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3 months ago

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The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is keeping an eye on developments regarding the possibility of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund expanding into tennis. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters on Tuesday that he doesn’t believe any future investment will affect the sport in a similar way it has done with golf. The PIF has invested heavily in sports over the past few years, including the £300M takeover of football team Newcastle United. In golf, they funded the LIV Tour which split the sport before a shock merger between the Tour’s was announced a few weeks ago. 

Now there is speculation that Saudi Arabia’s next target is tennis. ATP CEO Andrea Gaudenzi has confirmed to the Financial Times that he had held ‘positive’ talks about the matter but didn’t elaborate any further. It is also understood that the country is the favourite to host the Next Gen Finals in the future which could potentially be expanded into a mixed event. 

“I think what’s different is this is more an investment in the current structure of the game and not an investment in an alternative option,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Tiley as saying. “But, like everything in the world, there are lots of changes always going on, so you’ve got to watch what’s going on, and we’ve been staying close to it, but ultimately, that’s a decision for the men’s and the women’s tour.
“One thing that’s really important to note is that the four grand slams run independently … it’s most important that we take care of what we need to take care of, and that’s our five weeks of tennis in January.”

Some organizations have accused Saudi Arabia of sportswashing which is where a country invests in sports to improve its reputation that has been tarnished by wrongdoing. The country has been criticized in the past for its human rights record. 

There are also questions about how LGBT sports fans would be welcomed in the country. Saudi Arabia draws its legal framework from Sharia law which prohibits homosexuality. On the country’s Tourist website, it says that ‘everyone is welcome to Saudi Arabia and visitors are not asked to disclose personal details.’ In an exchange with a member of the country’s tennis federation on social media, I asked what would happen if I or anybody else visited with a same-sex partner. 

“If you came with your boyfriend and didn’t show that to the public it’s not a problem,” Adel Alqarni said in response.
“Our problem is that we don’t accept anyone forcing his ideology or culture in public. It’s against our culture, that’s it.”

Social issues aside, Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has spoken out in favour of a potential partnership between the ATP and PIF occurring. On Twitter, he retweeted a report of the Guadenzi’s talks with the caption ‘Finally they see the value. We are going to get paid what we deserve to get paid. Sign me up.” World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz has also recently said he expects to be playing tournaments in Saudi Arabia in the future.

In response to Kyrgios’ suggestion that players are not getting paid enough, Tiley said he would always welcome more prize money being awarded in the sport. 

“We’ve done it as a grand slam – we’ve done the best we can to compensate the players. In fact, this year there was over $100 million in prize money on offer for a period of four weeks, for both men and women,” he said.
“Our view is that if men get paid a certain amount, the women need to be paid the same amount, and vice versa, so we’ve always held that position and always will hold that position.
“The more players, not just the top players, who can make a good living, the healthier it is for the sport.”

According to the BBC, the current value of the PIF stands at £514bn and is controlled by Saudi Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. 

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Andy Murray reaches the quarter final in Zhuhai

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1 day ago

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21/09/2023

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Two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray beat Chinese wild card Mo Ye Cong 7-5 6-3 to advance to the second round at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships. 

 

Murray won three titles at the  Shanghai Masters 1000 in 2010, 2011 and 2016, the ATP 500 in Beijing in 2016 and the ATP 250 in Shenzhen in 2014. 

Murray saved all five break points he faced. The British player bounced back from the disappointment at the US Open, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. 

Murray broke serve at love in the 12th game to close out a hard-fought first set 7-5. The Scotsman fought back from 0-40 down to hold serve in the first game of the second set. 

Murray broke serve at love in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and hit his 10thace of the match to close out the second set 6-3. 

Murray set up a second round match against Aslan Karatsev, who came back from a set and a break down to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in 3 hours and 22 minutes. Arnaldi reached the fourth round at the US Open this year. Karatsev and Arnaldi went on serve in the first set en route to the tie-break. Arnaldi earned the first mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev pulled back to draw level to 5-5. Karatsev earned his second mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. on his fifth set point.

Karatsev saved two break points in the first game of the second set. Arnaldi broke serve in the fourth game to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev broke straight in the fifth game. Arnaldi went up a second break to take a 5-4 lead earning the chance to serve for the match, but Karatsev pulled back on serve for the second time to draw level to 5-5. Arnaldi went up a mini-break to take a 4-2 lead, but Karatsev won five of the next six points with two mini-breaks to close out the tie-break 7-5. Karatsev broke twice in the first and third games  Arnaldi saved three match points on serve at 1-5, but Karatsev served out the win on his fifth match point. 

Karatsev broke his losing streak of four consecutive defeats against Italian players. 

Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Australian qualifier Luke Saville 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter final match against Next Gen ATP Czech Dalibor Svrcina 6-4 6-4. 

Australian qualifier Marc Polmans cruised past David Sweeny 6-3 6-1 to set up a quarter final against Cameron Norrie. Polmans has won the sixth match of his career on hard court and his first since the Australian Open 2022. 

Kimmer Coppejans beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to win his first ATP Tourn match. 

Alex Bolt was leading 6-3 4-2 when Diego Schwartzman was forced to withdraw from the match. 

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Roman Safiulin cruises past Brandon Nakashima at the Chengdu Open

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2 days ago

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20/09/2023

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Roman Safiulin cruised past Brandon Nakashima 6-4 6-4 in 88 minutes to reach the second round at the Chengdu Open. 

 

Safiulin hit 22 winners to Nakashima’s 17 and did not face a break point. He broke once in each set. 

“I think the most important thing was to hold my serve and just try to get some break points and try to use them. That was the main goal for the match”, said Saifiulin. 

Safiulin reached his first Grand Slam quarter final at Wimbledon moving up to world number 43 in the ATP Ranking. The Russian player set up a second round match against fourth seed Daniel Evans. 

Corentin Moutet beat Chinese wild card Mu Tao 6-2 6-2. The Frenchman set up either Miomir Kecmanovic or qualifier Benjamin Lock. Moutet earned an early break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Mu broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Moutet won the final four games with two breaks to close out the first set 6-2. The Frenchman broke twice in the fifth and seventh games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Taro Daniel came back from one set down to beat Alexander Vukic 4-6 6-2 6-2. Daniel will face either Christopher O’Connell or Alibek Kachmazov. Vukic broke serve in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead. Daniel broke back to love in the seventh game and held serve to draw level to 4-4. Vukic broke for the time in the 10th time to win the first set 6-4. 

Daniel broke in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Vukic broke back to draw level to 3-3. Daniel earned a second break in the ninth game to seal the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the decider. Daniel broke twice in the first and seventh games to win the second set 6-2. 

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Caroline Garcia, Victoria Azarenka and Ons Jabeur to reach the Round of 16 at the Guadalajara Open

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2 days ago

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20/09/2023

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Number 3 seed Caroline Garcia saved two match points to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 at the Guadalajara Open AKRON. 

 

Garcia was a point away from losing to Sasnovich for the first time after five consecutive wins as the world number 89 was serving for the win at 6-4 6-5. 

Garcia fended off a break point in her first service game before earning a decisive break at love at 3-3.

Garcia set up a third round match against Hailey Bapriste, who saved a match point to upset Karolina Pliskova. 

“We saw a few forehands directly in the wall behind the court, but it is what it is. I am very happy with the way I managed to fight at the end of the second set. I lost a little bit my serve at the end of the first set, but I managed to come back. It’s a great win, and I definitely wins”, said Garcia.  

Former world 1 Victoria Azarenka beat Dayana Yastremska 6-4 7-6 (7-5). Azarenka earned a break in the third game to seal the first set 6-4. Yastremska broke serve at love in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Azarenka broke straight back in the third game. Yastremska broke for the second time at love in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Azarenka broke serve for the second time before saving two set points at 5-4 in the second set. Both players traded the mini-break three times in the tie-break. Azarenka earned his fourth mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. 

Azarenka set up a third round match against Veronika Kudemertova, who won both of their head-to-head matches in Dubai in 2022 and at the Adelaide International 2 in 2023. 

Ons Jabeur cruised past Alycia Parks 6-2 6-2 in 59 minutes to improve her head-to-record against the US record to 3-0. Jabeur had previously beaten Parks in Charleston in 2021 and Berlin in 2022. 

Jabeur is aiming her second WTA 1000 title of her career after winning at the Madrid Mutua Open in 2022. 

Jabeur broke with a passing winner in the first game. Parks made 26 unforced errors in the first set. 

Jabeur earned an early break at love in the first game of the second set. Parks broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Jabeur won the next four games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Jabeur converted five of her break points. Parks hit six aces and made seven double faults. 

Jabeur set up a Round of 16 match against Martina Trevisan, who beat Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-2. The Tunisian player beat Trevisan 6-2 6-2 in Charleston in 2021. 

Maria Sakkari beat Storm Hunter 6-2 6-4 to set up a Round of 16 match against Camila Giorgi. Sakkari leads 3-0 in her previous head-to-head matches against Giorgi. Emma Navarro beat number 4 seed Madison Keys 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to set up a Round of 16 match against Leylah Fernandez.

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