Andy Murray takes a shot at the Six Kings Slam

Today at 02:00 PM

Among the events that characterize the last part of the season there is definitely the 'Six Kings Slam', which will take place in Saudi Arabia from 16 to 19 October and promises to give a huge show. The protagonists of this exhibition will be legends such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who will join top players like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune.

Each player will earn $1.5 million for attendance alone, while the winner will receive a whopping $6 million prize money. A few days ago, the event organizers released a spectacular and exciting video presentation that surprised the participants themselves. Many fans and insiders have questioned the meaning of this exhibition, which will be played after the Masters 1000 in Shanghai and especially after the controversies raised by the players about the ATP calendar. During the Laver Cup, the 4-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz said that the season is too long and invited players to discuss this topic in future perspective.

Alexander Zverev and Jack Draper agreed with the former world number 1, while Jannik Sinner expressed a more moderate opinion inviting other players to better outline their schedule. An exhibition in Saudi Arabia at this time of year has generated several controversies since it was announced many months ago.

Everyone was impressed by the event’s presentation video and praised the organizers, but former Scottish champion Andy Murray was very critical of it. “Speechless as to how damn cool this promo is. Probably best I’ve ever seen in tennis. Would watch this movie” – Liam Broady wrote on X. "Except that it's not a movie and you won't watch it because it's a tennis exhibition event that nobody cares about” – 3-time Grand Slam champion Murray replied on his official X account.

Recently, US Open finalist Taylor Fritz explained that exhibitions are much less tiring than an official tournament and that you can’t compare the two things. “I agree that its tough for the tour to shorten the schedule when players will just play Exos to fill the time, and I’ve seen a lot of people criticizing some of the players asking for a shorter season because they go and play Exos,” Fritz wrote on X.

He continued: “A tour event can be 5+ days of playing all out and mentally being dialed in on all things on and off court, VS an exo you show up, have some fun and entertain for a match or two. You don’t have to all out push your body and there is absolutely 0 mental fatigue or stress. In a lot of ways an exo is a lot like a rest week and shouldn’t be compared 1:1 with a tour event.”

Many players have suffered injuries in recent years and the stop times have become much more frequent than before. Alcaraz and Sinner - who are dominating the ATP tour at this time - had to stop due to injuries this year.

"My energy right now is good, I'm motivated to come to China to play good tennis. I will try to win the tournament, as I do in all the ones I attend," Carlos said in Beijing. "I know many players won't be on my side regarding calendar complaints, but many others will, it depends on each one. For example, Jannik Sinner also attended the press conference here and hardly complained.

I speak for myself, that the calendar is very tight from the first week of January to the last week of November... something needs to be done about it. I have seen many people talking about my calendar because I have done many exhibitions, but we need to separate the calendar and the exhibitions, they are different things” – he concluded.

During his last press conference in China, the former world number 1 also reflected on Sinner’s doping case: "It's tough, it's a complicated and difficult situation for him. I know everyone is talking about it and it's in the news as well. Probably, as I said in New York, people started looking at him in a different way.

I don't know how it will be, but I understand his position. Anyway, the way he is playing and the level he is playing with despite everything that's happening is crazy. He is capable of leaving everything aside when he's on the court, playing good tennis, it's incredible. I hope this ends as soon as possible and he can continue focusing on what he loves, which is playing tennis and moving forward. All I can say is I hope his people, those closest to him, won't feel bad in the coming months."