Newcastle United owners announce 'laughable' Rafael Nadal boost following 'lucrative' tennis snub

Newcastle United's majority owners have announced a historic partnership with Rafael Nadal days after receiving a significant rejection from British tennis.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has been chasing investment into tennis for a while, with proposals for the kingdom to host a new Masters 1000 event while it continues to chase the opportunity to host the WTA finals despite major backlash from the likes of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. 

In the background it seems United owners were working on a deal to secure a major sponsorship deal with UK tournaments Queens and Eastborne. Co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi were spotted at the former and Wimbledon warm-up event last year.

But it's been announced that the Lawn Tennis Association has rejected PIF's 'lucrative' proposal- a major setback in the wealth fund's plan for infiltrating the sport.

The setback has been met with a monumental and shocking development, however. Today, tennis legend and one of the all-time greats Rafael Nadal has been announced as an ambassador for the sport in Saudi Arabia.

As part of the deal the 22-time Grand Slam champion will spend time in the country every year to support “the development of boys and girls in the sport as well as grow further interest in tennis”.

“Everywhere you look in Saudi Arabia you can see growth and progress and I’m excited to be part of that,” said Nadal in a statement released by the Saudi Tennis Federation. “I continue to play tennis as I love the game. But beyond playing I want to help the sport grow far and wide across the world and in Saudi there is real potential.”

It'll be a lucrative deal of the Spaniard's own amid clear signs his playing career is slowing down. After losing in the quarter finals in Brisbane the 37-year-old pulled out of the Australian Open with a thigh strain. He missed most of last season with a hip injury. He speculated in May that 2024 could be his last. 

Nadal's deal with Newcastle United's owners has been met with widespread criticism across tennis circles and no doubt the debate around PIF, tennis and sportswashing will continue to grow.

Just days ago legend John McEnroe was highly critical of PIF's attempts to establish itself in the sport.

"Money talks. 'Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that. How much was I offered? On second thought maybe I will do that,' he said. "Personally, I disagree with it completely, with the golf and the tennis. The ladies are going to play the WTA Finals there? Are you kidding me? Because they treat women so well? That part is to me is laughable.

"At the same time, which is also laughable, is the people that can criticise tennis players or golfers for doing something that virtually every business and the government do, which is deal with Saudi Arabia. This idea that tennis players have to set the moral standard, or golfers for that matter, when they’re all making the money, it’s a total joke as far as I’m concerned. We’ll see what happens."