At the Laver Cup last month, Carlos Alcaraz complained that the tennis schedule is “going to kill us”. But this week the Spaniard, who has only played two ATP events since the US Open, is playing the £11.5m Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia where Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic are also competing for the £4.6m first prize.
That is almost double the winners’ cheque banked by Alcaraz at the French Open and Wimbledon this year. There is £1.2m guaranteed just for turning up.
For the six – Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune were also invited to Saudi – it was just too good to turn down.
But it is a bad look for the sport when players are complaining about the workload and world No.1 Iga Swiatek has not played since New York.
The Six Kings Slam is the start of the tennis season in Saudi Arabia with WTA Finals next month and the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jeddah in December. And the lucrative exhibition is also a warning for the future of the sport.
Tennis is wary of repeating the injection of Saudi money by golf’s established tours which led to the creation of LIV Golf.
And the Six Kings Slam is another example of the Kingdom’s financial might. Shown in 200 countries around the world, the Hollywood-style trailer portrays the players as superheroes in a further blurring of the line between sport and entertainment.
“Except it’s not a movie and you won’t watch it because it’s an exhibition tennis event that nobody cares about,” said Andy Murray on X.
Attempts by the Saudis to buy a Masters event have so far been unsuccessful. While Australian Open boss Craig Tiley wants to update a fractured calendar by creating a Premium Tour where top players are obliged only to play the big events – the four Grand Slams and the Masters 1000s – in a model similar to the signature events on the PGA Tour. They could then play exhibitions.
But this week there are ATP 250s in Antwerp, Stockholm and Almaty in Kazakhstan – while even the ATP 500 in Vienna next week has been affected.
Director Herwig Straka told L’Equipe: “In general, I am not happy with these exhibitions. The one this week obviously doesn’t please us because it stops us potentially having certain players in our field, including the defending champion Jannik Sinner.
“I hope we will be able to find a solution for this week in Saudi where there is a lot, a lot of money. We have to find a deal with the Saudis in the future.”
The Australians are reluctant to see the season starting with a Masters event in Saudi Arabia in January. February is an alternative but that would impact on established events that month.
Casper Ruud, who is playing in Stockholm this week, admits more events in Saudi Arabia are “inevitable”.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist told SpilXperten: “Obviously they have a lot of money, and I know what I am going to say will probably be described as sportswashing, but it seems to me that their new leader Mohammed bin Salman wants to do something and especially a lot of things in sport.
“Let´s see. I am sure it will be more and more in the future, and there are also a lot of rumours on the ATP tour if there is going to be an extra tournament in Saudi Arabia. I have chosen not to go so far, but it seems to me that it is inevitable, that they will somehow be big in tennis in the future and they already have the Next Gen Finals, so let’s see what the future brings.”
