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The ATP announces new changes that will come into force from the 2025 season. These are the tournaments in Monaco, Dallas and Doha, which will go from the status of 250 to 500. As part of the strategy aimed at improving the calendars for the next few years, it was decided that the Doha and Munich events will retain their location, while the Dallas one will be moved to a new location, which will be announced later.
But that's not the only change, the 250 in Atlanta, Lyon and Newport will be played for the last time in 2024 and will then be canceled from the calendar.
An ATP Masters 1000 is also underway in Saudi Arabia
On Tuesday the Times instead launched a very interesting indiscretion, this time concerning the Masters 1000 category.
According to the British newspaper, the ATP has succumbed to the lure of petrodollars and will include a new prestigious tournament in Saudi Arabia. It will be played in Riyadh and will begin in late 2024 and end on Saturday 4 January 2025, a week before the Australian Open.
The Saudi tournament will last 9 days (continuing the trend of expanding the Masters 1000 already seen this season, which will be uniform starting from 2025). It will only remain to be seen whether this event will be added to the 9 already scheduled, or will replace one.
ATP sacrificed a historic tournament like Newport (home of the tennis Hall of Fame and the last event that closes the grass-swing), to make room for the tournament in Saudi Arabia. According to the Times, Miami would be the most interested in listening to offers, while Paris-Bercy is competing due to the quality of its facilities.
Director Pioline, however, would prefer the tournament to change venue, after the countless criticisms received in recent weeks. The Saudi government has shown that it gives particular prominence to the city of Riyadh during the European winter season, hosting a large number of sporting events.
In fact, it will be the place where Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will play the Diriyah Cup at the end of December, an exhibition tournament that has already had two editions and in which a good part of the circuit's elite has already participated.