Portugal Colonial - Saudi Arabia to host ATP Masters 1000 tennis event from 2028

The new event will be played on hard courts and take place "at the start of the season" in a city yet to be determined and will last "one week", ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said at a press conference in Paris.

The long-expected move marks the first ever expansion of the top-tier category of men's tennis since its creation in 1990.

The Saudi tournament will join the nine existing Masters events, which take place in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.

Gaudenzi called the expansion to 10 events "a proud moment for us and the result of a journey that's been years in the making".

The addition of another tournament to the tennis calendar comes at the end of a season marked by complaints from some players about the demanding pace of the tour, whose tournaments run from January to November.

However, unlike the majority of its counterparts, the new Saudi tournament will not be a mandatory event.

In a statement published Thursday, the ATP said the tournament would be launched as part of a deal with SURJ Sports Investments -- a company with links to Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The amount invested by SURJ to secure the organisation of the new Masters event has not been disclosed.

Saudi Arabia has increased its presence in world sport -- particularly tennis -- in recent years and has hosted the WTA Finals in Riyadh since 2024.

The PIF has also attached its name to the ATP rankings and formed partnerships with several existing Masters 1000 tournaments such as Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.

The Next Gen ATP Finals, which bring together the eight best players aged 20-and-under at the end of every season, have been held in the kingdom since 2023.

L.Mesquita--PC