Tennis stars show hypocrisy by accepting Saudi money

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 2 Jannik Sinner and other top tennis stars have been highly critical of the jam-packed ATP calendar and the various guidelines laid out by the sport's governing body. 

Per ATP rules, every player is required to play a minimum number of events in a calendar year, including all four majors, eight of the nine Masters-1000 events and at least four ATP-500 tournaments. Failure to do so will result in the loss of ranking points, seeding at events and even a chance to compete in the year-end ATP Finals.

Interestingly, the same players are glad to accept the riches offered by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as part of the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition tournament that gets underway on Oct. 15.

Six Kings Slam will offer record prize money

The 2025 Six Kings Slam will pit Alcaraz, Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas against each other, with each player guaranteed a participation fee of $1.5M.

The winner will walk away with an additional $4.5M, giving Alcaraz and Co. six million reasons to shed their concerns about a jam-packed tennis calendar and instead put on a show for fans in Riyadh. 

For context, the winner of the exhibition event will earn more than double what Sinner ($2.24M) and Alcaraz ($2.72M) received for triumphing at this year's Australian and French Open, respectively. Last year, Sinner walked away with $6M for winning the inaugural Six Kings Slam — claiming the biggest purse in pro tennis history.