Alcaraz Faces €5 Million Challenge in Saudi Arabia

Carlos Alcaraz will wield his racket again this Thursday at the Six Kings Slam exhibition, which gathers the world's top five tennis players and Stefanos Tsitsipas starting this Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Murcian, who has been training at home these days, keeps the bandage on his left ankle as a precaution after injuring it in Tokyo. Although it did not prevent him from winning the title in Japan, it did force him to withdraw from the competition at the Shanghai Masters 1000. These two weeks of rest have allowed Alcaraz to refresh his mind and face the season's final stretch with confidence, starting with this exhibition in Saudi Arabia, followed by the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 (October 27 to November 2), the ATP Finals in Turin (November 9 to 16), and the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna (November 18 to 23).

In Riyadh, Alcaraz will not compete for ranking points, but he will vie for the season's largest prize. There are €5 million at stake, surpassing the €4.2 million he earned at the last US Open. The organisers award €1.2 million to each participant and an additional €3.8 million to the event's champion. To claim this prize, Alcaraz will need to play only two matches.

This Wednesday, the quarter-finals will take place between Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz, and between Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The semi-finals will be held on Thursday, with the final and the third-place match on Saturday. The players will rest on Friday as the ATP does not allow players to participate in exhibitions for three consecutive days.

Alcaraz will face the winner of the Zverev-Fritz match in the semi-finals, while Novak Djokovic will play against the victor of the Sinner-Tsitsipas match. Alcaraz and Djokovic are seeded due to having the most Grand Slam titles among the invitees. Djokovic's physical condition remains to be seen after reaching the semi-finals in Shanghai, where he lost to Valentin Vacherot and ended up with several physical discomforts.

The tournament will be broadcast on the Netflix platform and will be played at the ANB Arena in the Saudi capital, with a capacity of 15,000 spectators. Last year, in its first edition, the champion was Sinner, who defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals and Alcaraz in the final. The Italian pocketed €5.2 million for this victory, almost double what he would have earned in a Grand Slam.

The Saudi organisers intended to have the top six players in the ranking, but this plan was disrupted when Jack Draper withdrew due to injury, and Tsitsipas, currently ranked 24th, replaced him.