In other words, he does not want the summer Down Under, including the year-opening United Cup – which is only two editions in, and brings the best men and women together – to be impacted. A Saudi Masters event would almost certainly lead to the United Cup’s demise, after it replaced the short-lived ATP Cup.

Gaudenzi informed the Masters 1000 chiefs of the PIF offer, which would elevate him to commissioner of both tours, at the Indian Wells Masters at the weekend, after more discussions about the Premium Tour.

Tiley, who was at the Californian tournament but is in transit elsewhere, was unavailable for comment.

“I’ve never looked at [the PIF interest] negatively. I’ve always looked at it positively. [But] as a sport, we shouldn’t be doing something that sub-optimises, or negatively impacts, a long-standing partner in the sport,” Tiley told this masthead in January.

Loading

“The conversation we want to have is, ‘Where is the opportunity for everyone?’, where we can all co-exist, as we work on creating this massive opportunity for the players and fans in the future.”

Tiley argued at the time that upwards of 75 per cent of players who compete at the Australian Open arrived from the northern hemisphere, where it is much colder at that time of year, and needed time to acclimatise.

“We have some great events leading into the Australian Open, and the players want to be in Australia,” he said. “The science tells you, you need at least a couple of weeks to acclimatise.”

But the issue goes well beyond adjusting to contrasting temperatures, as Tiley is all too well aware, but the threat to his own backyard means he arguably has the most to lose.

There is a widely accepted view that the tennis tour needs a revamp to realise its true potential, with a merging of the tours just one part of the discussion – and problematic because of how much more financially successful the ATP Tour is compared to the WTA.

The WTA said in a statement it was “engaging actively with the other governing bodies of professional tennis, as well as with existing and potential commercial partners, to explore whether we can bring greater alignment across the sport”.

One potential upside of a unification is it could help deliver a stronger broadcast deal for the sport, although the grand slams negotiate their own TV rights at present.

The PIF’s aggressive bid to effectively control tennis follows the havoc it has created with LIV Golf, while also spending huge sums of money to attract big-time boxing events and soccer superstars to Saudi Arabia.