Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady have revealed what they really think about the Six Kings Slam. The world number five and her American compatriot watched on as Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win the lucrative exhibition event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.
The Italian, who replaced his opponent as world number one following the US Open in September, exacted his revenge for his defeat in the New York final. Sinner cruised past Alcaraz with a 6-2 6-4 win.
In doing so, he reportedly pocketed $6m (£4.5m); $4.5m (£3.4m) of which was prize money, with the remaining $1.5m (£1.1m) being a participation fee. The Spaniard earned his participation fee without lifting a finger, having received a first-round bye.
Novak Djokovic, who retired from the third-place match against Taylor Fritz, took home just as much. Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas also collected their seven-figure payouts, despite playing just one match.
All in all, Sinner took home more for winning the Six Kings Slam than he would’ve done if he had won this year’s US Open ($5m/£3.74m), Wimbledon ($4m/£3m), French Open ($2.9m/£2.2m) or Australian Open ($2.3m/£1.75m).
Speaking recently on The Players Box podcast, Pegula and Brady commented on the prize money at the exhibition event in the Middle East. As quoted by Tennis Up To Date, the former, whose family’s net worth is said to be about $7bn (£5.2bn), said: “The prize money is insane… 1.5million for showing up.”
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Before breaking into laughter, the latter chimed in: “Winner gets 6 million, 1.5 million to just show up, I don’t think I’d say no!”
Sinner has now won the Six Kings Slam two years in a row. In his on-court interview, the 24-year-old reflected on his impressive performances in Saudi Arabia.
“I wish I could play like this everywhere,” said Sinner. “This season we played many, many times, and I also lost many times to Carlos.
“It is a huge pleasure and honour to share the court with him. At the same time, you want to get better as a player, and you need rivalries in the sport.
“So it’s nice to have a great rivalry and more importantly, a great friendship off the court. We have a very special friendship, and it’s very nice.”
Alcaraz was just as complimentary of his opponent. He said: “When Jannik is playing at this level it is always difficult, today he was just too good.
“I always say when he plays such great tennis it gives me motivation to go to the practice court, give 100 per cent and try to be better. Sometimes he is annoying, but he gives me extra motivation.”
On their relationship away from the court, Alcaraz added: “A few times I wrote to him just to see how he’s going or to congratulate him. We have a special relationship off the court, which is great.
“People think when two tennis players are competing for great things, giving their best on the court, they cannot have a great friendship off the court and I think we [have seen] it’s possible.”