Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz set for ‘crazy’ cash windfall
Rafael Nadal has arrived in Saudi Arabia for what will be one of his final appearances as a professional tennis player in this week’s Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament.
Nadal confirmed last week that he would call time on his remarkable tennis career after playing for Spain in next month’s Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
Before that, he will take his place in a lucrative event in Saudi Arabia this week, as he lines up alongside old foe Novak Djokovic, world No 1 Jannik Sinner, French Open and Wimbledon champion Crlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune in the Six Kings Slam.
The prize money on offer is truly staggering, with reports suggesting each player taking part will be paid a £1.2million appearance fee, with the tournament winner set to pocket a stunning £4.8million.
If those figures are accurate, this will be the most lucrative tournament of the year by some distance, with Alacraz taking home £2.35million from his Wimbledon win last summer.
With Saudi sporting chiefs keen to have more influence in tennis, the announcement of this tournament is evidence that they have the game’s top players on board with their plans.
The kingdom has hosted a December exhibition in recent years, while the Next Gen ATP Finals for the best players 21 and under was held in Jeddah for the first time last year.
Now the details of the Six Kings Slam have been confirmed, with Sinner set to play Medvedev in the opening match on October 16, with Rune taking on Alcaraz in the second match.
Djokovic will play the winner of the Sinner vs Medvedev match, with Nadal waiting for the winner of the Rune vs Alcaraz clash.
The winner of this brief exhibition event is set to take home more money than if they had won any of the four Grand Slam titles in 2024, with Djokovic insisting he has no problem playing in Saudi Arabia despite ongoing controversy over the kingdom’s human rights record.
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“I think personally was just a question of time when they were to start some kind of negotiations or conversations in tennis to try to enter tennis,” said Djokovic.
“They’ve done that with pretty much all other global sports, except maybe basketball. We see what’s happening in football for the last few years, the stars that are going there for tremendous amounts of money. We know that Formula 1 is there, all the other sports, especially golf.
“I think that we as individual sports on a global level are probably closest to golf in terms of how we see sports.
“I think from that example we can probably learn a lot, some positives, some negatives, and try to structure a deal if it’s going in that direction in a proper way that is going to protect the integrity and tradition and history of this sport, but still be able to grow it in such way that it will be appropriate.”
The WTA Finals are also taking staged in Saudi Arabia next month, along with the ATP’s Next Gen Finals for their rising stars.
The Saudis have changed the face of boxing and golf with their vast investment in recent years and it looks like tennis is now in their sights.
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