Six of the world’s top tennis players will compete in Riyadh this week in a high-profile exhibition tournament offering one of the highest prizes in the sport’s history, as Saudi Arabia deepens its push into global athletics.
The Six Kings Slam, opening Wednesday at The Venue arena in the Saudi capital, features world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 2 Jannik Sinner, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The total prize pool is $14.5 million, with the winner set to receive up to $6 million - more than the $5 million awarded to this year’s U.S. Open champion.
The three-day event, streamed live on Netflix, is part of the annual Riyadh Season, a national festival of culture, music and sports. Matches will be played in a best-of-three format on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, in line with ATP regulations that bar players from competing in exhibition matches on three consecutive days.
In the opening round, Sinner — last year’s champion — will face Tsitsipas, while Zverev meets Fritz. Alcaraz and Djokovic have received automatic berths into the semifinals. The tournament does not award ATP ranking points or count toward official head-to-head records.
Exhibition events like the Six Kings Slam are designed to attract new audiences to tennis, often through star-studded showcases. Similar exhibitions have drawn large crowds in recent years, including a 2020 match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in Cape Town that set an unofficial attendance record of 51,954.
Alcaraz, who has played several exhibition matches in the United States and the Caribbean this year, has voiced concern over the tour’s crowded calendar, saying it has become “dangerously full.” His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, said such events help the 21-year-old Spaniard train in a more relaxed setting.
As with other international events hosted by Saudi Arabia, the tournament has drawn criticism from rights groups and some players who accuse the kingdom of using sports to improve its global image amid allegations of human rights abuses - a practice often described as sportswashing.
Norway's Casper Ruud, ranked No. 12, said last year that he declined invitations to play in Saudi Arabia because of its human rights record. He noted, however, that other nations such as China also face scrutiny on similar issues.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports in recent years, including golf, soccer and boxing. The Six Kings Slam marks the kingdom’s latest step in positioning itself as a major global sporting hub, and raises the question of whether its efforts will help grow tennis or simply polish its image.