Discussion in tennis
Updated on October 14, 2024, 8:27 a.m
Carlos Alcaraz is one of five tennis superstars who have confirmed their participation in an exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia. Recently he had complained about his busy schedule.
© IMAGO/Xinhua/IMAGO/Bai Xuefei
As in football, there are discussions in tennis about the strain on players. Nevertheless, several superstars have agreed to a show tournament in Saudi Arabia. The DTB president finds this at least “funny”.
For President Dietloff von Arnim of the German Tennis Federation (DTB), the participation of the superstars is over Carlos Alcaraz at the Six Kings Slam show tournament is at least questionable in view of the current debate about stress. “We keep hearing that the top players complain about the heavy load in the tournament calendar,” von Arnim told the German Press Agency: “If someone complains about the heavy load and then plays a show tournament, then that’s already a good thing a bit strange.”
In addition to the German tennis star Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz also recently expressed criticism about the busy schedule. “I’m one of those players for whom there are too many compulsory tournaments a year. And there will probably be even more in the next few years. That will kill us,” the Spaniard said.
Alcaraz is one of six top players who have confirmed their participation in the upcoming exhibition tournament on October 16th and 19th in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner, the Italian world number one will also be appearing in Riyadh Jannik Sinnerthe Serbian Grand Slam record champion Novak Djokovic, Holger Rune from Denmark, Daniil Medvedev from Russia and even Rafael Nadal. Spain’s veteran star recently announced his final retirement at the end of the year for fitness reasons.
Saudi Arabia tempts with money
The kingdom attracts the stars with an initial fee of a rumored $1.5 million each. The winner is even expected to pocket a whopping $6 million – almost twice as much as the prize money Sinner received for his triumph at the US Open.
Saudi Arabia has been increasing its investments in tennis for some time, as it has previously done in football, boxing, golf and Formula 1. The kingdom is accused of using its involvement in sport to distract attention from its violations of human rights and to improve its image want.
“I think that the debate about human rights and democratic values when awarding tournaments is not conducted enough,” said von Arnim. This must “be brought more to the fore” when awarding tournaments.
However, the DTB President does not see any negative effects for the German tournament scene in view of the Saudi million-dollar offensive. “The German tournaments are established, they are recognized and wanted by all market participants.” (dpa/edited by ska)
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