The controversy linked to the reasons for playing the exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia continues, Alcaraz takes a different path from Sinner but the Spaniard enhances the blue’s season
On the eve of Paris Masters 1000 the hot topic still seems to be the Six Kings Slam prize poolthe exhibition tournament played in Saudi Arabia that still sparks much discussion. The main topic revolves above all around the pharaonic prize money made available to the players (with Jannik Sinner taking home a prize of 6 million euros) and obviously the issues related to respect for human rights in the Arab country.
Alcaraz: “I would be lying if I said money doesn’t matter”
Carlos Alcaraz prepares for his debut against Chilean Nicolas Jarry who beat Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the tournament but on the eve of his debut the questions to the Spaniard revolve around Six Kings Slam and its prize pool: “If I said I went there for fun and playing without thinking about money, I would be telling a lie. Every person works for that, life revolves around that. I love playing tennis and most of the time I don’t think about money. I do it for the love of the game and for fun but you also have to be realistic. You also have to think about earning money. In Arabia there was the biggest prize money in history and so for me it was a good motivation”.
The challenge with Sinner
But from tomorrow and perhaps for a few days the controversies linked to the Arab exhibition tournament will go on pause and we will return to talking about tennis with Alcaraz who also returns to talk about his rivalry with Sinner in the conference: “It doesn’t mean much to have beaten Jannik three times this season. If I’m 3000 points behind in the race it means that there are tournaments in which I didn’t play good tennis. My winning percentage this year is very high but Jannik’s is on another level, at over 91%. Few players have achieved this before. Obviously my goal is to be more continuous throughout the season, which will also be the goal for next year”.
Jannik’s word on Six Kings Slam
The “prize money” issue seems to have become a topic of debate on social media too. The words of Jannik Sinner on the decision to go and play in Saudi Arabia (“I don’t play just for the money”), were perhaps misrepresented and in some cases reported without the context expressed by the Italian player. For this reason, many have lashed out against the Italian, guilty of having been insincere or hypocritical on the matter.
