Wimbledon respond to Saudi’s copycat plans for 33,000-capacity tennis mega-complex

Wimbledon and the world of tennis has its fair share of finance and governance at present.

Chief among them is the push for the Grand Slams to pay out more money to players, fixing prize purses to a percentage of tournament revenue.

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are among the stars to have flirted with the idea of a boycott if their demands – which are for a 16 per cent share of revenue, ramping up to 22 per cent by 2030 – are not met.

It is perhaps not incidental that both players have witnessed first-hand the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia and, as a result, want a greater share in tennis’ commercial success.

Sinner banked about $6m in prize money in the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh in October last year. A couple of months later, Sabalenka took in the region of $3m from a $15.5m purse at the WTA Finals in the same city. Saudi Arabia will also host a new ATP Masters 1000 tournament beginning in 2028.

Tennis is far from alone in feeling the distortionary impact of billions of Saudi Public Investment Fund petrodollars flooding into sport.

And Wimbledon, the home of tennis, now appears to have opened up a new front in the battle between old and new money in the sport.

Wimbledon hits back at copycat Qiddiyah tennis complex

When Saudi Arabia unveiled its new 33,000-capacity tennis centre slated to be built in under-construction Qiddiya City earlier in the year, it raised one or two eyebrows in the tennis world.

It was hard not to notice the visual similarities between the complex and Wimbledon, with the purple-and-green colour branding and heavy emphasis on foliage.

Today, Wimbledon marketing and commercial director Usama Al-Qassab told City AM: “Imitation is the finest form of flattery.

“We’re very proud of what our site looks like and our brand. We defend it rigorously and we promote it with great care and attention. The purple and the green you see, and the cross racket logo are part of the Wimbledon equity.”

“These are just CGI visuals at the moment, and let’s see what turns out. I wouldn’t be surprised if green is in the colour scheme somewhere because that generally seems to be the colour of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“We defend many areas of our brands and equity from our font and logos, and when we do see guerrilla activity, we do make sure that we protect both our brand and those stakeholders that invest in it.”