Carlos Alcaraz reveals prize money attracted him to Saudi Six Kings Slam event

PARIS – Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz said on Oct 28 the record prize money on offer at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia earlier in the month was a motivation for playing in the tournament, as the world No. 2 prepares for the Paris Masters.

Italian rival Jannik Sinner dismissed claims that he joined the exhibition event for financial rewards, emphasising that he went to Riyadh for the sporting challenge.

However, Alcaraz admitted the financial aspect played a role as he earned US$1.5 million (S$1.97 million) over four days in mid-October when finishing runner-up to Sinner.

“I love playing tennis. Most of the time, I don’t think about the money. I just play for love or for fun. But you have to be realistic,” he said.

“You have to think that you want to earn money and that’s it... in Arabia is the highest prize money ever in the history, so that was a good motivation, at least for me.”

The Spaniard has not experienced much success at the Paris Masters in recent years, with a quarter-final appearance being his best result. He took on Chile’s Nicolas Jarry on Oct 29, with the match starting after press time.

Regardless of the result, Alcaraz also said that the season has taken its toll, especially after capturing the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2024.

“I haven’t played good tennis here in this tournament. Probably at the end of the year, I have been tired, or yeah, as I said last year, I had to understand that the season is still going after September,” he said.

“The calendar is super tight, super demanding, as well. So coming to the last tournament of the year, probably I have been tired the last year, didn’t play as well as I wanted.”

Citing an “intestinal virus”, world No. 1 Sinner pulled out of the Paris Masters on Oct 29, when sixth seed Andrey Rublev crashed out after losing 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

A day earlier, 11th seed Tommy Paul was also knocked out, with the American losing 6-3, 7-5 to France’s Adrian Mannarino.

Meanwhile, the world’s top women’s tennis players are fully on board with the controversial decision to stage this year’s tour Finals in Saudi Arabia, said tournament director Garbine Muguruza.

“I think that they’re all very excited. They were all asking me so many questions about what to expect, what to do,” said the Spaniard, a two-time Grand Slam champion and winner of the 2021 season-ending contest.

She said she had not heard any reservations from players about making the trip to the Gulf kingdom, which tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova blasted for its human rights record.

“I only have heard positive things and we’re here. I mean it’s a new country for us. It’s a new market that is being very welcome to us,” Muguruza added.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced in April that Riyadh would host the next three editions of the Finals. The 2024 showpiece featuring the top eight singles players and doubles pairs will be staged from Nov 2 to 9.

It will feature a battle between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek to see who will close out the year ranked No. 1.

Arij Mutabagani, president of the Saudi Tennis Federation, said she hoped the tournament would help grow the sport locally.

“I think the most important thing for us as a federation is that this event will help us inspire one million into tennis by 2030. That is our end goal,” she told AFP.

The WTA Finals comes just weeks after Riyadh hosted the Six Kings Slam featuring Alcaraz, Sinner, Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Talk of Nadal’s upcoming retirement dominated that event, and Muguruza also said it was “bittersweet” to see her fellow Spaniard call it quits.

“We want to see him forever... He’s been an idol for all of us. It’s sad, but I know that he’s just going to enjoy a new life that he deserves,” she said. REUTERS, AFP