Tim Henman says the Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia, scheduled to join the ATP calendar from 2028, will be a “great event” but questions why there is not a comparable tournament on grass.
Saudi Arabia’s influence in tennis has grown quickly: it has hosted the WTA Finals, the Next Gen ATP Finals and the high‑profile Six Kings Slam exhibition, and its Public Investment Fund has struck sponsorship deals covering the ATP and WTA rankings and the WTA’s maternity programme. The country has now secured a coveted Masters 1000 slot — the first expansion of that category — to sit alongside Indian Wells, Miami, Monte‑Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.
The exact timing of the new event is yet to be confirmed, but ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi suggested February — when Doha and Dubai already run — is a strong possibility. The Saudi tournament will align with Monte‑Carlo in lasting only one week and will not be mandatory for players, though its prize money and benefits are expected to make it highly attractive.
“I think the conversation about a Saudi Masters 1000 event has been in the pipeline for a long, long time, and there’s no doubt Saudi Arabia are coming into sport and I think tennis as a whole wanted to embrace that idea, so I’m excited about it,” Henman told Sky Sports. He added that while the calendar date has been challenging, he expects the event to be successful and that “if you’re going to have the best male players in the world I’m sure the fans will come and watch.”
The announcement arrives amid scrutiny over the length of the tennis calendar and player demands. Henman argued for clearer focus on the sport’s pinnacle events: “When you look at the pinnacle of the sport with the four Grand Slams and the Masters 1000s I think that’s what we should be focusing our attention on, to get the players together to play in those big events, but perhaps playing less of those smaller events so that there’s a clearer narrative — the best players playing each other more often!”
On the subject of surfaces, Henman raised the idea of a Masters 1000 on grass. Currently, three Masters 1000s are on clay and six on hard courts; none are contested on grass. “Having a Masters 1000 on grass is another topic of conversation,” he said. “I would love to see that and there are Masters 1000 events on other surfaces so why not on grass? There are challenges around facilities… there’s three weeks between Roland‑Garros and Wimbledon so that middle week would be an obvious opportunity but it’s not that straightforward with sanctions and everything that goes with it. The principle of having a Masters 1000 on grass — I would absolutely support that.”
Former British No. 1 Laura Robson was more sceptical, pointing to logistical and infrastructure barriers. Upgrading an existing tournament would be difficult, she said, and the calendar is already congested. “No‑one is asking for another Masters 1000,” Robson said. “It would certainly be nice because it’s the only surface that doesn’t have one, but at the same time it’s a very busy time of the season. There’s very few permanent grass‑court venues in the first place. I don’t think anyone is asking for it, it would be just nice to have compared to all the other Masters events that are on and played on hard courts.”
A reminder of the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments: Indian Wells, Miami Open, Monte‑Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, Italian Open (Rome), Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open, Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters.
The Saudi Masters 1000 represents a significant reshaping of the Masters calendar and highlights ongoing debates about where events should sit, how many tournaments players should contest, and whether tennis should pursue a grass‑court Masters to complete the surface spread.