Tennis: ‘Went because best players in world went,’ Sinner denies allure of Saudi money | Tennis News
Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic on the way to win the Six Kings Slam held in Riyadh – a tournament that came with some eye-catching money for the winner. In fact, the tournament’s total prize money makes it the highest across all ATP events and the four Grand Slams.
Sinner took home the $6 million cash prize but said that it was not the money that motivated him, but rather the opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world.
“I don’t play for money. It’s very simple. Of course, it’s a nice prize and everything. I went there because there were possibly the six best players in the world, and then you can measure yourself with them. Of course, when you come back as a winner for me, it was more like okay, I played the matches in the right way, and this hopefully can improve me as a player also for the future,” Sinner said to Eurosport.
Sinner’s battles with Alcaraz are feverishly escalating to a generation-defining rivalry. With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal bowing out of the sport and Novak Djokovic approaching his final days as an elite Slam winner, life after the big three is starting to look like a budding climb of the Grand Slam titles between Sinner and Alcaraz. The Italian defeated Alcaraz in Riyadh but maintains that currently, the Spaniard might have something more.
“We are two very different players. I keep the pace very high, I am mentally strong. He is physically strong and tennis-wise at the moment he has something more: he plays the slice better, the volleys. But for me it is a positive fact: it means I have margins. Carlos on the court does the numbers: drop shot, passing shot, lob. I don’t know if I will ever be like that. But as a tennis player I am more solid and when needed I place the winning acceleration,” said Sinner to La Stampa.
