Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will meet in the first quarter-final match at the 2024 Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
While the ATP Tour moved from Asia to Europe, with a series of indoor hard-court tournaments leading up to the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, some of the best players stayed in Asia and moved to the Western part to compete at the 2024 Six Kings Slam.
The Six Kings Slam is an exhibition tournament held between October 16th and 19th during the Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia. Four out of the five highest-ranked players in the latest ATP Rankings will compete at the tournament.
Two of them are the reigning World No. 1 player, Jannik Sinner, and the former World No. 1 and current No. 5, Daniil Medvedev, who will meet in the first quarter-final match at the tournament.
Since it's an exhibition, the traditional rules don't apply, and that means that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were seeded into the semi-finals in Riyadh despite being the third and sixth highest-ranked players at the event.
That means that some players ranked higher than them will have to fight for the remaining two semi-final spots. Sinner and Medvedev will play for a semi-final spot against Djokovic, and their match will be the first one at the tournament, played on October 16th at 7:30 p.m. local time.
The rivalry between Sinner and Medvedev is well known, and its latest chapter was written only recently at the 2024 Shanghai Masters. The two met for the 14th time, and Sinner won that match to tie the H2H at 7-7.
It's important to mention that Medvedev was injured in this latest match, and it's not clear whether his health will also impact this quarter-final match at the Six Kings Slam.
Regardless of his health, the Russian player won't be the favorite to win. He has lost seven of the last eight matches against Sinner, with his only win coming at the Wimbledon Championships this year.
Sinner won all of their other matches in the past 12 months, and all of those matches were also played on hard courts, like this one will be.
| Jannik Sinner | Daniil Medvedev | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | H2H | 7 |
| 1 | Rank | 5 |
| 23 | Age | 28 |
| 65-6 | 2024 W/L | 45-18 |
| 255-80 | Career W/L | 378-154 |
The court in Riyadh will be a big question mark. While both of these players enjoy competing on hard courts, the specifics of the court at The Venue might tilt the matchup in favor of one of the players.
Regardless of details and specifics, Sinner is the favorite to win the match, but with the exhibition factor involved, the match might go into three sets. Still, it would be a surprise if Medvedev managed to win it.
Prediction: Jannik Sinner to win in three sets.