Tim Henman & Laura Robson react to Saudi Arabia tennis takeover offer

Published: Mar 13, 2024 Duration: 00:03:48 Category: Sports

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Lexus presents tennis on Sky Sports for the game changers now a headline that a lot of people were waking up to yesterday was in the Telegraph and just to get it right it's not all about the headline but Saudi Arabia launched tennis takeover deal with two billion at take it or leave it offer now this caused as you'd expect quite a stir we joke about you coming out here to play golf there was a reason you came out earlier that was take part in some Grand Slam board meetings what was said in that that you can tell us and what was your reaction when you saw this article yeah so um it came out flew out on Friday on Saturday um we had those grand slam board meetings that you mentioned that was the four grand slams getting in the room with both the ATP the WTA and and the Masters 1000s and for me you know that was a real moment in time we often talk about the t7 in tennis which is the four slams the two tours and the ITF and and t7 really needs to become T1 um so that we can have an environment where we can make decisions for the tour um to then you know move on to the The Narrative around Saudi Arabia they've already invested in the sport as as sponsors of the the ranking system and uh you know it would seem that they want to have an event as well the challenge is if there is going to be an event in Saudi Arabia um when does it when does it take place and uh you know for uh the event potentially to take place in week one um that has massive implications for Australian tennis and tennis Australia with the Australian Open so um you know I I don't necessarily I think that this is a takeover bid I think it's more about um trying to have a you know a combined event for both men and women and and it would be interesting to see um how that conversation moves forward cuz I think that is the word that jumped out at people the word merger that thought that someone was coming in to take over tennis in its entirety yeah you know when I first read the article it kind of seemed like it was a merger between the ATP and the WTA as well which is not the case they really just want a slice of the pie it's not like a live golf coming in to start a new course a whole new setup it's really just to have a part of the 10 masters events on the women's side there's nine on the men's but like Tim said where do you place it we all know how long the tennis calendar is how tough it is already to try and fit in you know the right tournaments how to plan your year we have players playing exhibitions already in the off season there's not a lot of time for a really decent break and then a training block before Australia so to pack another one in uh which is a mandatory event I think makes it very very difficult but um it's going to be interesting because there's so many parts in play there's so many you know tennis governing bodies I don't know where you even start in terms of the discussion to try and get this going because um it's been it's been in our minds I think for a while but we haven't really seen any progress yet I think that's going to be the hardest thing is is where to put it it's hard enough at the moment for players to find time to have a holiday have a break have some downtime talking about moving an event or putting it somewhere else I mean that is a big discussion yeah it is and and um again I I think um at the start of the meeting on Saturday um I think everybody was um really positive about uh getting these groups together and and to be able to have that that conversation but uh um yeah I I think this is is something that needs to be you know sorted out in the short term so there's Clarity for everyone whether that's the the tournaments the players the grand slams or or the um the fans themselves everyone's got to keep talking I hope so communication it feels like to me that the players get consulted last in these things so that you know they're the last ones to find out what's going on they're the last ones to find out what's changing with the calendars yes there's an ATP Council player Council and a WTA player Council um but do they feel like they're part of the decision- making process no not really it's going to be interesting to see how it unfolds

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