Some tennis fans are questioning why the top players, who often complain about the packed schedule, choose to participate in exhibitions like the Six Kings Slam, which kicks off on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. For Taylor Fritz, the answer is clear and lucrative.
Fritz is one of the six tennis players who will compete in the second edition of the Six Kings Slam. Among them is Jannik Sinner, who returns after winning the top prize in the previous edition in Saudi Arabia, a sum greater than that offered by many official tournaments. The US Open recently awarded $5 million to the individual winners, setting a record in the Grand Slams. This event is part of the kingdom’s growing investment in tennis, which includes the WTA Finals in Riyadh and the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. Each player in the Six Kings Slam is guaranteed an appearance fee of approximately $1.5 million, and the champion takes home a bonus that raises their total earnings to four times that amount. The matches will be streamed live on Netflix.I would love for them to show me a tournament where you can play three matches, or two for the top two seeds, and potentially win $6 million. I would love to hear it from them.
Taylor Fritz
Sinner, winner of the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, and runner-up at the French Open and the US Open, assures he is in good physical and mental shape. In his first match, Sinner will face Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Fritz will play against Alexander Zverev. The winner of the match between Fritz and Zverev will face Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday, and the winner of the duel between Sinner and Tsitsipas will face Novak Djokovic. The semi-final winners will compete for the title on Saturday. Djokovic has 24 Grand Slam titles, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has four; all have been world number one. Fritz was runner-up against Sinner at the 2024 US Open. Zverev has been a Grand Slam finalist three times, including losses to Sinner at this year’s Australian Open and Alcaraz at last year’s French Open. Tsitsipas was twice runner-up against Djokovic in major tournaments.Money is not something we are trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I said it wasn’t a motivation.
Jannik Sinner
