Saudi Arabia building tennis stadium in new £260bn city - it looks exactly like Wimbledon

The building spree in Saudi Arabia continues unabated, with plans for an entire city "built for play" to be constructed around 30 miles southwest of the Middle-Eastern nation's capital Riyadh. Qiddiya City, which is due for completion in 2031, is billed as being Saudi Arabia's capital of entertainment, sport, and culture.

When completed, the £260bn city will be three times the size of Paris, with a planned population of around 500,000.

Some of its facilities, such as the Six Flags and Aquarabia theme parks are already open to the public. The Qiddiya Speed Park Track is expected to host the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from 2028, and the Prince Mohammed bin Salman sports is scheduled for completion in 2029, in time to host matches for the 2034 world cup.

But there's one feature of the mega-project that might look familiar to any visitors from the UK. Qiddiya Investment Company has recently announced the construction of its National Tennis Centre - and the design seems clearly inspired by the All-England Tennis Club in Wimbledon.

The 30-court facility is even being designed by Populous - the same firm of architects who are responsible for Wimbledon Centre Court's retractable roof.

Saudi's National Tennis Centre, the developers promise, will offer "world-class competition infrastructure with elite training and wellness facilities, a vibrant public realm, and two multi-purpose arenas with retractable roofs for climate control which can host concerts and major events beyond tennis".

There will be 30 tennis courts in total, but unlike Wimbledon's famously unpredictable grass lawns 28 of them will be hard courts, and the remaining two will be clay. Its Centre Court will have space for some 15,000 spectators and will be able to "host events beyond tennis," planners say.

The 8,000-seat Court Three will also feature a retractable roof, although in the famously baking-hot temperatures of the region this will be keep players and spectators cool rather than preventing rain from stopping play.