Rafael Nadal will return to the spotlight at the mid-week start of the revised NextGen Finals to be staged in Saudi Arabia, with the now-retired Spaniard fulfilling his contractual obligation with the local federation.

The 38-year-old who played his last match in November at the Davis Cup Finals before hanging up his racquet, controversially accepted a position in February as “ambassador” for the federation.

The Saudi public wealth investment fund has been buying its way into tennis, and has already served as host for the WTA Finals as well as snaring the under-20 NextGen under a five-year contract.

Nadal will front up as part of the PR effort when the event begins on Wednesday in Jeddah.

“Hello, it’s Rafa here. Just remains one week for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah,” Nadal said in a Saudi social media post..

“Make sure you are ready to watch some of the best talents, special young talents, in the world. See you there!”

The 22-time Grand Slam winner has been a frequent visitor to the kingdom, participating in a well-paid exhibition in October also featuring fellow elites Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and USD 6 million winner Jannik Sinner..

Coach Darren Cahill has rallied to the defence of Jannik Sinner after the world No. 1 sparked controversy with his record-breaking USD 6 million prize money haul from last month’s Saudi exhibition.

The Italian banked the biggest cheque ever cut in tennis for winning the hit-and-giggle event among six top players last month,

Asked as to what influence the outsized payday had on his participation, the native German-speaker answered in English to Eurosport: “I don’t play for money. It’s very simple. 

“Of course it’s a nice prize, but I went there because there was possibly the six best players in the world and you can measure yourself with them. It was also a nice event,”

That somewhat unbelievable response drew a laughing emoji form veteran Stan Wawrinka in an online post.

The situation may have inspired Australian Cahill to jump into the controversy in an effort to save face for his VIP client.

 “What he said about not going to Riyadh for the money was misinterpreted.

“Or maybe he didn’t explain himself well. The truth is that he had never played an exhibition, he has always been focused on improving his tennis. He knows what his priorities are.

“Then he got an offer for the Six Kings Slam, with the six best players in the world and a lot of money. He consulted us and we said why not, and he accepted.”

Sinner is headlining from Sunday at the this week at the ATP finals in Turin, where he is top seed as the eight best players this season clash.

Main photo:- Darren Cahill with Andre Agassi after winning 2003 Australian
Open – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos

Aryna Sabalenka fell victim to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 upset at the hands of former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina as the world No. 1 moved into the knockout stage of the WTA Finals on Wednesday.

Sabalenka had already assured herself a semi-final place but would have surely preferred to leave the group stage in Riyadh with a clean slate after three matches.

Rybakina ends standing 1-2 as she competed for the first time since pulling injured from the US open with a back injury and playing just three matches since Wimbledon.

Sabalenka’s loss was only her fourth in the series after defeating her Kazakh rival six times; the top seed had won her previous seven matches before running into Rybakina.

American Jessica Pegula quit the year-end event with injury while Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-1.

US Open runner-up Pegula, who lost that final to Sabalenka, was replaced by alternate Daria Kasatkina.

“Just been kind of struggling with a little bit of an injury,” Pegula said, “and for whatever reason, it kind of really flared up this week. 

“I’m not really sure why. In the few days before practice, it felt really, really good, but it started creeping up right before my first match.

“I”m not feeling comfortable moving on court.”

Kasatkina will face No.2 Iga Swiatek on Thursday.