There are some tennis followers who marvel why high gamers who complain about how crowded the game’s calendar is would add an in-season exhibition just like the Six Kings Slam, which begins Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, to their schedule.
Taylor Fritz can consider thousands and thousands of causes. Nicely, 6 million, to be exact.
“I’d love for them to point out me a match the place you may go play three matches — nicely, for the highest two seeds, two matches — and doubtlessly make $6 million,” Fritz stated, his arms crossed throughout a video interview from Riyadh on Tuesday. “I’d love to listen to that from them.”
Fritz is one in every of six males scheduled to take part within the second version of the Six Kings Slam. That features Jannik Sinner, who’s again after strolling away with the verify for that high prize a yr in the past in Saudi Arabia — greater than any actual match gives to the champion. The U.S. Open’s current $5 million payout to the ladies’s and males’s singles winners set the Grand Slam report.
This occasion is a part of the dominion’s current huge steps into tennis — and vice versa — together with the WTA Finals in Riyadh, the ATP Subsequent Gen Finals in Jedda and the Public Funding Fund’s sponsorship of the excursions’ rankings. Corridor of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been among the many critics of the game’s ties to Saudi Arabia due to issues about LGBTQ+ and girls’s rights there.
For the Six Kings Slam, every participant is assured an look charge of reportedly $1.5 million; the final one standing will get a bonus that brings his complete to 4 occasions that for the matches being proven stay on Netflix.
“The cash is nothing we’re attempting to cover. We all know how a lot is at stake right here, and it could be a lie if I informed you it wasn’t a motivation,” stated Sinner, who gained the Australian Open and Wimbledon this yr and was the runner-up to rival Carlos Alcaraz on the French Open and U.S. Open. “Each participant right here will attempt to win as many matches as potential. It’s like every other exhibition — besides right here there is a little more motivation.”
Sinner stop enjoying throughout his most up-to-date match, 1 1/2 weeks in the past on the Shanghai Masters, due to extreme leg cramps. However he stated Tuesday he is high quality.
“I recovered. We took a number of days off to relaxation and now we’re prepared for the remainder of the season,” stated Sinner, who famous he has not determined whether or not to attempt to assist Italy win a 3rd consecutive Davis Cup title subsequent month. “Mentally I’m in fine condition … and can give 100 per cent.”
He meets Stefano Tsitsipas on Day 1, when Fritz will face Alexander Zverev. The Fritz-Zverev winner takes on Alcaraz on Thursday, and the Sinner-Tsitsipas winner goes up in opposition to Novak Djokovic. After taking Friday off, the semifinal winners will play one another Saturday to shut issues.
Djokovic owns a males’s-record 24 Grand Slam trophies, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has 4; every additionally has been ranked No. 1.
Fritz was the runner-up to Sinner on the 2024 U.S. Open. Zverev is a three-time main finalist, together with losses to Sinner at this yr’s Australian Open and Alcaraz ultimately yr’s French Open.
