Announcing the PIF and EQT sponsorships, the LTA said: “The partnerships reflect both the continued growth of the HSBC Championships and the strength of collaboration between the LTA and ATP Tour.
“Their support of the tournament will allow the LTA to continue to invest in the event and other initiatives to deliver greater tennis participation across Britain.”
The original Saudi Arabia-ATP proposal was to include Queen’s in a package sponsorship deal with several other events, including Masters 1000 tournaments (the highest level below the four grand slams) in Miami and Madrid.
Although the decision to turn down the deal was made solely by the LTA board, some sources close to the talks suggest that the deal would not have been welcomed at the All England Club, which is one of the most cautious organisations in world sport in choosing branding partnerships.
Tennis was threatened with a LIV-style battle for its future when PIF announced multi-year partnerships with both the ATP and WTA in 2024.
The latter deal prompted backlash led by Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert after it included staging the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia, a country notorious for the oppression of women.
Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority, also created the so-called Six Kings Slam, an annual exhibition event for men in Riyadh which features a record $6m (£4.7m) in prize money for the winner. Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the first two editions. On the ATP Tour, an agreement was reached recently to give Riyadh a Masters 1000 event – the 10th in an already crowded calendar – with a probable start date of 2028.
But it has been difficult to find a space in the itinerary where the new tournament might fit. It now seems plausible that the whole project could be paused, after news emerged that the Saudis would not be renewing the WTA Finals deal once that tournament finishes its initial three-year lease in November.