The most lucrative exhibition tennis tournament, called the Six Kings Slam, is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this October.
The exhibition tournament, which will be held during the Riyadh Season, will start on October 16th. Matches will also be held on October 17th and 19th. There will be one rest day on October 18th to satisfy ATP's rules about tennis players not participating in exhibition tournaments for three consecutive days.
The organizers are reportedly set to fork out a record prize money, which will be distributed to the players participating, as revealed by the Telegraph UK.
The player field for the Six Kings Slam has been unveiled, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, and Holger Rune expected to make the trip in what is traditionally a busy month on the ATP calendar.
It was challenging for players to align their calendars with this tournament, especially at a time when the ATP Finals are just around the corner. However, the numbers that have been disclosed are so staggering that they directly rival the ATP's biggest tournaments.
In fact, the winner of the Six Kings Slam is projected to earn a total of $6 million. This would be the single-largest payday in tennis history. The closest figure to this was Djokovic's paycheck from winning the 2022 ATP Finals as an undefeated champion.
Djokovic received $4.74 million. He also earned the second-largest paycheck at the 2023 ATP Finals, which stood at $4.42 million. Retired Australian WTA star Ashleigh Barty won an equivalent of $4.42 million for lifting the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
Each participant is guaranteed to bank $1.5 million in appearance fees just by showing up at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, which is still a colossal figure. This would be higher than the prize money offered for winning the 2024 Indian Wells Open, the so-called 'fifth Grand Slam.'
While tennis fans have shared some very strong reactions about the tennis stars who have signed up for the event, having their favorites compete at the event certainly made it an interesting tournament for all the fans.
Saudi Arabia's growing interest in tennis has already fostered ties with the men's governing body over the past few years. Last season, the first-ever ATP-sanctioned event—the Next Gen Finals—was held in Jeddah.
The draw for the 2024 Six Kings Slam was revealed as well, with four players set to meet in quarter-final rounds, while two received a BYE from that stage right into the semi-final of the tournament.
Those two players are obviously Djokovic and Nadal. The winners of the matches between Sinner and Medvedev, and Alcaraz and Rune will join them in the semi-final stage of the tournament.
Competing for $6 million will certainly motivate players to play their best tennis. While for someone like Djokovic or Nadal, who have both earned over $130 million in their careers, this wouldn't be a substantial increase in their net worth, there are players who would certainly greatly celebrate such a huge paycheque.
Of the six players competing, Rune is the only one who has earned less than $29 million in his tennis career, and that's by far. So far in his career, the young Dane earned $10,225,281, and winning $6 million in three days would represent 60% of his career earnings for the past few years.
| Round | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $6,000,000 |
| Participation | $1,500,000 |