"Plan to buy out some of the ATP 500s, so the season can end a few weeks before": Casper Ruud a fan of proposed Saudi Arabia changes to benefit players

Casper Ruud is a fan of potential further involvement from Saudi Arabia in the sport ahead of the mooted Saudi Arabia Masters, which is likely to land on the calendar in 2028. Albeit with concerns in the region in both security and also pulling of tournaments, it is very much one to look for as to whether or not it happens.

Ruud shared his thoughts with Bolavip at the Stockholm Open, surrounding an open letter recently sent out by Andrea Gaudenzi, the ATP President, surrounding some of the plans being considered for the future of men's tennis.

The Norwegian mooted that some of the changes had already been discussed with the players and parts had already been on their radar in order to discuss and look to implement.

One of the leading objectives Ruud moots behind this change is to improve financial compensation received by players. He believes that the financial commitment could translate into increased prize money and better financial conditions across the whole of the tour.

“I think the plan is, as some of the players have been told about, that first of all, there will be a new Masters event in Saudi Arabia from 2028, as we all know."

“The plan is that the players will be compensated better financially because Saudi Arabia has bought the rights to the Masters tournament and has paid a huge amount of money, which will benefit the players in the end.”

He added that even being in a high-ranking spot akin to the current bonus list will help financially, especially with the prize money being so high, so the motivation will be to get even higher in the rankings.

“Apparently, it helps being in a high-ranking spot, because then you will get compensated even more financially, especially with the prize money, so now there will be an even higher motivation of being high up in the rankings.”

“So, of course, the goal is that the top players will be paid more, so even if you lose the first round, you will still get some good prize money. I don't have all the details yet, but there will for sure be a change in the schedule; some tournaments will be moved around, and some tournaments will disappear."

But also Ruud added that it should work out in that they are looking to buy out some of the licences for ATP 500 tournaments, potentially allowing the season to finish a few weeks earlier. This change would see a huge restructuring of the calendar but is one in the view of Ruud that would work and could allow players a few weeks off before heading to Saudi Arabia in what is already a hectic calendar, which, especially for ATP, won't end for the big names till the Davis Cup in late November.

“There is also a plan to buy out some of the ATP 500s, so the season can end a few weeks before. I think that's their plan. It is quite a big plan from the ATP, and they hope they can move tennis even more forward with this plan and have more big and important tournaments than now.”

“It is quite complicated, because a lot of the tournaments have a licence, rights and so on, but it is a plan that many of the players are supporting. I can't speak for all the players, but I think it looks quite good.”