PIF, the investment fund of Saudi Arabia, offered one billion dollars for the merger of the ATP and WTA circuits and set an ultimatum of 90 days for acceptance, reports EFE.

WTA schemePhoto: Rob Prange / Zuma Press / Profimedia

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The investment fund of Saudi Arabia offers $1 billion to merge WTA and ATP

According to The Telegraph newspaper, this new scheme will offer equal prize money in men’s and women’s tournaments, something currently reserved only for Grand Slam events and some tournaments such as the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000.

The British newspaper notes that Andrea Gaudenzi, the president of the ATP circuit, used the tournament in Indian Wells these days to bring the news to the nine Masters 1000 tournaments, and has already received the support of the All England Club, the organizer of the tournament. The Wimbledon tournament, which sees with good eyes the possibility of equalizing the prize places.

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The PIF, which has already invested in other sports such as Formula 1 and golf, along with the LIV Autodrome, signed an agreement with the ATP a few days ago to become a “sponsor” of Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing, the Tournament of Champions in Turin and the Next Gen tournament in Jeddah, which gathers the best players under the age of 21.

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Saudi Arabia intends to organize the Masters 1000 tournament on its territory, the kingdom also wants to host the Champions Tournament (WTA Finals), which was held last year in Cancun (Mexico), reports Agerpres.