Carlos Alcaraz confesses that, tired of the “tight” ATP calendar, which, he says, is going to end up consuming the best tennis players on the planet, his head and his body are grateful for the respite that the Six Kings Slam has provided this week, the exhibition that the government of Saudi Arabia organizes in Riyadh to sell to the world the bonanzas of a country that, , hosts Formula 1 races, evenings of international boxing, matches in a league in which, among others, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema play, and, from 2020, and at least until 2029, the Spanish Soccer Super Cup. “It is a different format than what we are used to,” the Murcian explained to Reuters before his debut against Taylor Fritz. “I understand [las críticas]but I feel like sometimes people don’t understand our point of view. In the official tournaments we play 15 or 16 days in a row, with a very high level of physical and mental demand. Here, on the other hand, we have fun and play tennis for a day or two and that’s it.”
In exchange, the Murcian, like Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, has pocketed one and a half million dollars just for participating in the Saudi event, a loot greater than that which any of the nine Masters 1000 on the professional circuit grant to the tournament champion. Such is the economic gap that, with a duration of only four days, it is more than the US Open (5 million), Wimbledon (3.8), Roland Garros (2.8), the Australian Open (2.3) and any other competition in the history of tennis. “I think that [el Six Kings Slam] “It is good for us and for our sport,” Alcaraz summarized on Saudi television before a tournament that, outside the structure of the ATP, does not distribute points in the race that the Murcian and Sinner maintain for number one in the world. ranking world.
Both Spaniards and Italians, owners of the last eight Grand Slams on the men’s circuit, that is, of all those disputed, one after the other, since the beginning of last year, jumped to the ANB Arena in Riyadh this Saturday after honors were paid to the crown prince, and Turki Al-Sheikh, president of the General Entertainment Authority of the Saudi kingdom and owner of the Unión Deportiva Almería, currently in second place. division of Spanish football.
It was then, with the Netflix signal broadcasting the duel live to the whole world, when the redhead from San Candido began to dominate the court with impossible right hands for Alcaraz, still “with doubts” about his left ankle after the sprain he suffered on September 25 at the ATP 500 in Tokyo against the Argentine Sebastián Báez. There was no comeback this time. Neither epic, screams of rage or clenched fists. Just two extraordinary tennis players, the two best of their generation, hustling exchanges under the spotlight until the meeting at the net, where both, smiling, hug and joke after Sinner’s triumph (6-2, 6-4), who wins the jackpot.
In the stands, everyone applauds. Also those responsible for the multimillion-dollar Riyadh Season, a campaign designed to promote sporting events in the kingdom and, through which, already Paula Badosa, who, still active in the women’s circuit, recently boasted of “sharing values” with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), a financial entity that since 2024 has given its name to the ranking ATP.
