At a time in the season where the annual debate over what to do about the overpacked and unrelenting tennis calendar swings around once more, it seems there is always room for a little more competition when it comes with a $6m cheque for the champion on the side. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are among the players involved as the Six Kings Slam returns for its second year in Saudi Arabia, with the three-day exhibition in Riyadh offering $1m more to the winner than Alcaraz received when he triumphed at last month’s US Open, itself the biggest prize fund in grand slam history.
The Six Kings Slam has achieved what every other tournament on the ATP Tour could not and got Alcaraz, Djokovic and Sinner into the same draw for the first time outside of the grand slams this season. There are many reasons for that, of course, most of all Sinner’s three-month doping ban, Djokovic’s selective scheduling and a couple of injury withdrawals from Alcaraz, but hats off to the match-making skills of Turki Alalshikh, for the stars have managed to align themselves once again when it comes to Riyadh Season.
