Sinner and Fritz motivated by millionaire prize at the Six Kings Slam

Some tennis fans are questioning why the top figures in the sport, who often complain about the tight schedule, decide to participate in exhibitions like the Six Kings Slam, which begins this Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. For Taylor Fritz, the answer is clear and simple: six million reasons. The American tennis player did not hesitate to express his motivation.

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 dollars. I would love to hear it.

Taylor Fritz

Fritz is one of the six tennis players who will participate in the second edition of the Six Kings Slam. Among them is Jannik Sinner, who returns after taking the top prize in the previous edition, surpassing the earnings of any real tournament. To put it in perspective, the US Open, which sets a record in the Grand Slam, awards 5 million dollars to the individual winners. This event is part of Saudi Arabia’s growing investment in tennis, which includes the WTA Finals in Riyadh and the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, as well as the Public Investment Fund’s sponsorship of the tours’ rankings. It is worth noting that figures like Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have expressed criticism about the sport’s ties with Saudi Arabia due to concerns about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. In the Six Kings Slam, each player is guaranteed an appearance fee of $1.5 million, and the winner takes home a bonus that raises their total winnings to six million dollars. The matches will be streamed live on Netflix.

Money is not something we try to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it’s not a motivation. Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It’s like any other exhibition, except there’s a little more motivation here.

Jannik Sinner

Sinner, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, and was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open and the US Open, feels recovered from the leg cramps that forced him to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters.

I recovered. We took a few days off to rest and now we are ready for the rest of the season. Mentally I am in good shape… and I will give 100%.

Jannik SinnerIn the first day, Sinner will face Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Fritz will play against Alexander Zverev. The winner of the match between Fritz and Zverev will play against Alcaraz on Thursday, and the winner of the match between Sinner and Tsitsipas will face Novak Djokovic. After a day of rest on Friday, the winners of the semifinals will face each other on Saturday to close the tournament. Djokovic holds the record of 24 Grand Slam titles, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has four. All have been number one in the world. Fritz was runner-up against Sinner at the 2024 US Open. Zverev is a three-time major finalist, including losses to Sinner at this year’s Australian Open and to Alcaraz at last year’s French Open. Tsitsipas was twice runner-up against Djokovic in Grand Slam tournaments.