Sinner and Fritz say the $6 million top prize at the Six Kings Slam exhibition offers motivation

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There are some tennis fans who wonder why top players who complain about how crowded the sport’s calendar is would add an in-season exhibition like the Six Kings Slam, which starts Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, to their schedule.

Taylor Fritz can think of millions of reasons. Well, 6 million, to be precise.

“I’d love for them to show me a tournament where you can go play three matches — well, for the top two seeds, two matches — and potentially make $6 million,” Fritz said, his arms crossed during a video interview from Riyadh on Tuesday. “I’d love to hear that from them.”

Well, then.

Fritz is one of six men scheduled to participate in the second edition of the Six Kings Slam. That includes Jannik Sinner, who is back after walking away with the check for that top prize a year ago in Saudi Arabia — more than any real tournament offers to the champion. The U.S. Open's recent $5 million payout to the women's and men's singles winners set the Grand Slam record.

This event is part of the kingdom's recent big steps into tennis — and vice versa — including the WTA Finals in Riyadh, the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jedda and the Public Investment Fund's sponsorship of the tours' rankings. Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been among the critics of the sport's ties to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights there.

For the Six Kings Slam, each player is guaranteed an appearance fee of reportedly $1.5 million; the last one standing gets a bonus that brings his total to four times that for the matches being shown live on Netflix.

“The money is nothing we’re trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation,” said Sinner, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year and was the runner-up to rival Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open and U.S. Open. “Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It’s like any other exhibition — except here there is a bit more motivation.”

Sinner quit playing during his most recent match, 1 1/2 weeks ago at the Shanghai Masters, because of severe leg cramps. But he said Tuesday he's fine.

“I recovered. We took a few days off to rest and now we’re ready for the rest of the season,” said Sinner, who noted he has not decided whether to try to help Italy win a third consecutive Davis Cup title next month. “Mentally I’m in good shape … and will give 100%.”

He meets Stefano Tsitsipas on Day 1, when Fritz will face Alexander Zverev. The Fritz-Zverev winner takes on Alcaraz on Thursday, and the Sinner-Tsitsipas winner goes up against Novak Djokovic. After taking Friday off, the semifinal winners will play each other Saturday to close things.

Djokovic owns a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam trophies, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has four; each also has been ranked No. 1.

Fritz was the runner-up to Sinner at the 2024 U.S. Open. Zverev is a three-time major finalist, including losses to Sinner at this year's Australian Open and Alcaraz at last year's French Open. Tsitsipas was twice the runner-up to Djokovic at Slams.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis