Six of the world’s top players have sent shockwaves through tennis after signing up to play in a ‘Saudi Slam’ event in October – and now more details of the tournament have been revealed.Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune have signed up to play in a big event in Saudi Arabia in October, with the huge cash sums being paid to each player now the topic of huge speculation.
Suadi sporting chiefs have made no secret of their desire to get a foothold in tennis and there is no better way to do that than by signing up six of the biggest stars in the game to play in what is certain to be an event that captures huge interest around the world.
The ‘6 Kings Slam’ will be hyped as the fifth Grand Slam event of the tennis year, yet the reality is this tournament is more akin to the ATP Finals that are staged each November and contested by the top eight players in the world.
The prize money on offer for that event in Turin is huge and the same will be the case in this new exhibition event in Riyadh, with reports suggesting each player taking part will be paid £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.
The Telegraph are reporting that the players taking part in the 6 Kings Slam were in danger of breaching the rules of their agreement to play on the ATP Tour, which states they will breach agreements if they play in exhibition events that run for more than two days.The report claims Saudi chiefs will navigate around that by ensuring the tournament only runs for two days and then concludes after a suitable break.
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