Andy Murray calls a Saudi Arabian power grab of tennis INEVITABLE as former Wimbledon champion concedes ‘it’s the way that a lot of sports seem to be going’
Saudi Arabia’s sports washing power grab of tennis has been given an unexpected boost on the eve of the showpiece tournament.
Discussions between tennis governing bodies and Saudi’s Public Investment Fund were the talk of Wimbledon with play due to start in SW19 on Monday.
Former champion John McEnroe urged tennis to resist following golf, boxing and other sports by succumbing to the wealth of the controversial Arab Kingdom.
McEnroe said: ‘I’m not surprised (to hear the WTA and ATP are in talks). I wouldn’t encourage it, me personally, the Saudi thing, but I’m not surprised that tennis is being thrown into the mix after what we saw in golf.’
But Britain’s greatest ever player Andy Murray on Saturday evening joined this year’s Wimbledon favourites Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek in accepting Saudi’s riches will prove too seductive for tennis to ignore.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray had a resigned view of a Saudi takeover in tennis
Murray, who has previously turned down offers to play exhibition events there, said: ‘If they become major tournaments on the tour, it becomes a slightly different question.
‘It’s a difficult one, really, based on how the tour and the rankings and everything work. When you start missing them, you obviously get penalised for that.
‘Yeah, it’s definitely something I would have to think about. Unfortunately it’s the way that a lot of sports seem to be going now.’
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