The Six Kings Slam, millionaire exhibition tournament in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), has divided tennis fans, tennis players and former tennis players,since its creation. One of them is Andy Roddick who, in his latest podcast Served With, has harshly expressed himself against the exhibition tournament that was played last weekend and that was won by Jannik Sinner in the final over Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian won the $6 million prize money, while the other five participants (Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz) collected $1.5 million.
ADVERTISEMENT
The American took a swipe at the event and its organizers, analyzing: "Seriously, I never envy anyone for their choices, someone pays that amount of money and you have to go and dance even in an embarrassing way. The whole thing felt completely unnatural, it just felt weird. I had no interest in it. It felt like an exhibition but without the glamour of the Laver Cup where you see the interactions of players or legends who are protagonists even on the bench. However, for better or for worse, we will see more and more of this type of thing. It's easier to pay Jannik Sinner $6 million when you're not responsible for 122 other players, plus doubles and other x, y and z variables. Here there's only one court, not a million courts to manage and program, there are no expenses and it's a marketing budget for a government. It's just great for them, for the players. Take your money."
ADVERTISEMENT
