PIF’s new venture into the world of tennis: The Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed a “multi-year strategic partnership” with ATP Tour, the governing body of men’s professional tennis said in a statement yesterday. No details on the value of the PIF’s investments as part of the partnership were disclosed.

What we know: The partnership will see the PIF becoming the official naming partner of ATP rankings and partner in ATP Tour events, including Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing, and Italy’s Nitto ATP Finals. It also includes the Next Gen ATP Finals, which Jeddah will host until 2027.

One for the future: The PIF and ATP will “collaborate to elevate the long-term future of tennis,”according to the statement. The partnership sees the PIF backing the ATP’s OneVision Strategic Plan, which aims to “drive unity, enhance fan experiences and leverage scalable growth [potential] across the sport,” the statement added.

And a focus on the sport here: The PIF is looking to utilize ATP’s expertise to provide tennis training for young Saudis using advanced facilities and coaching, according to the statement, which also took note of a 46% jump in the number of registered tennis players in Saudi between 2019 and 2023.

Saudi has been acing everything tennis lately: Six of the world’s top-ranked men’s tennis players will be in town in October to compete in the first-ever “Six Kings Slam.” Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune will all be here for the tournament in Riyadh. Nadal was named ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation recently. Officials are also trying to land the hosting rights for the 2024 Women’s Tennis Association finals.

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