South American tennis looks ahead to 2028 with concern and pessimism: “The Masters 1000 that’s going to be played in Saudi Arabia will hurt the swing a lot. We have to accept that Top 50 players won’t come,” Argentina’s Tomás Etcheverry told CLAY.
The new Middle East event is expected to take place after the Australian Open and before Indian Wells — right during the weeks of the Latin American tournaments.
“There will be Doha, Dubai, a Masters, Acapulco. It will be a swing with a huge number of points, all on the same surface. You can’t compete with that. Players who need points or who don’t get into the other tournaments will come, but there won’t be any stars,” said Etcheverry, South America’s No. 1.
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Saudi Arabia offers players more money and the chance to keep competing on hard courts — the surface used in Australia, Indian Wells and the entire Middle East swing. While South America cannot compete with the financial side, a change of surface is an issue that has been discussed for years.
“If changing to hard courts helps improve the draw, then let’s change,” said Catalina Fillol in an interview with CLAY in 2025. The Chile Open tournament director added that Brazil supports the potential switch, while Argentina prefers to maintain its clay-court tradition.
For Etcheverry, moving from clay to hard is a path worth considering: “It could make players look at the swing differently — they would stay on the same surface.”
Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo also acknowledges that need. “It could help bring more players. The calendar has many hard-court tournaments, so it would also help everyone adapt a bit. It wouldn’t affect me — I like playing on all surfaces, and as long as there are tournaments in South America, I’d do whatever it takes,” he told CLAY.
But South America is also under threat for another reason. Andrea Gaudenzi, the ATP chairman, has already made clear his intention to gradually reduce the number of 250-level tournaments on the calendar in the coming years.
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The measure aims to give greater priority to the biggest tournaments, easing a calendar that currently spans 46 weeks and 62 events. Tabilo feels the impact: “It’s tough if they start removing more 250s — a lot of my points have come from those events.”
In 2026, Argentina and Brazil managed to bring Gaudenzi to their tournaments for the first time since he became ATP chairman, seeking greater support for the swing. Although Chile did not secure the Italian’s visit, Catalina Fillol remains confident: “It’s very difficult to remove an event that fills the stadium. We’re very calm,” she told CLAY.
Francisco Cerúndolo, the second highest-ranked South American player, prefers to see the glass half full. “Nowadays we have a lot of Challengers and Futures in the region, so we should be grateful for everything those tournaments do. I think there are more opportunities for players now — that’s why we have more South Americans in the Top 200 and Top 100. Today, players can break through by competing almost the entire year in South America,” the Argentine told CLAY.
There are plenty of problems, but also ideas for change. Everything will depend on whether the ATP ultimately gives South American tennis the chance to keep one of the sport’s most traditional swings alive.
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