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Rafael Nadal at the tournament in Brisbane at the beginning of 2024
Photo: Chris Hyde / Getty Images
Saudi Arabia has landed the next coup on its way to becoming the desired center of world sport: Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal will act as an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation in the future. He quoted him as saying that Weil sees "great potential" in the desert state. At the end of 2022, the country had already presented football idol Lionel Messi as a "tourism ambassador".
"Partnership" between Saudi Arabia and Nadal
The 37-year-old Nadal is currently missing the Australian Open in Melbourne due to injury, and he is now to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia annually as part of his partnership "to promote the sport and build a new Rafa Nadal Academy".
Everywhere in Saudi Arabia you can see "growth and progress, and I'm happy to be part of it," the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles was quoted as saying. Last year, with the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah, an ATP tournament was held in Saudi Arabia for the first time, and Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, the figureheads of the sport, came by for a show match. Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur also played a high-profile game.
The World Cup is coming
The Nadal coup will also regain momentum speculation that the Women's Tour will move its WTA Finals to Saudi Arabia at the end of the season. WTA chairman Steve Simon had previously emphasized that the country had "big problems" as host of Women's Tour events. The WTA said in December that it was negotiating with various groups about the 2024 Finals and beyond and had not yet made a decision.
Saudi Arabia has pumped enormous sums into sports such as football, Formula 1, boxing and golf. Among other things, the country wants to host the 2034 World Cup – and probably make it happen. Critics accuse the country of using its public investment fund to "sportswash" its human rights record. The Kingdom denies this.
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