From racket to ambassador: Berrettini's unexpected career serve

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini has stated that he is ‘honoured’ to join Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as a tennis ambassador. The 28-year-old is regarded as one of the best Italian men’s tennis players in the singles category. Berrettini has recently been appointed as the tennis ambassador for the PIF.

The world number 34 has been recently quoted in a report by The Tennis Gazette where he stated that he was ‘proud’ to join hands with an organisation that shares similar values and goals. “A great partnership is built on shared values and shared goals. That’s why I’m so proud to announce that I am now a picked tennis ambassador,” said Berrettini. “I feel really proud and honoured. I think it’s something that goes beyond tennis, not just my tennis career, but make tennis and other sports bigger and better and more accessible to older people around the world.”

The move is another one from the all-power fund owned by the Saudi government, which has been investing heavily in sports in the recent past. The PIF became a major shareholder in the consortium that bought the English Premier League outfit Newcastle United. They then invested heavily in the Saudi Pro League, where a number of world-class players signed for different franchises, including the likes of former Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo, French World Cup-winning midfielder N'Golo Kanté, former French and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, former Brazil and Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez.

That’s not it, as PIF also invested heavily in golf, which led to the merger of Liv Golf and the PGA Tour. Recently, the PIF has shown their intention to invest heavily in tennis, which is why, for the first time, they managed to host the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Most recently, Saudi Arabia managed to sign former world number one Rafael Nadal as an ambassador for the upcoming Next Gen ATP event.