Jannik Sinner claims he ‘doesn’t play for money’ after $6million win at Six Kings Slam

Jannik Sinner has revealed why he recently went to Saudi Arabia for the Six Kings Slam exhibition event, claiming that the $6million in prize money was not his main incentive.

Sinner is currently in Paris for the final ATP 1000 event of the year, coming off the back of winning the Shanghai Masters and more recently the exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Italian beat rival Carlos Alcaraz in the Six Kings Slam final to win the largest prize money sum in tennis history of $6million, which is nearly double what the Wimbledon champion received earlier this year.

Despite this, Sinner has played down the idea that money was his motivation for playing in the Saudi capital, “I don’t play for money. It’s very simple. Of course it’s a nice prize, but I went there because there was possibly the six best players in the world and you can measure yourself with them. It was also a nice event.

“I played the matches in the right way and this can hopefully improve me as a player also for the future.”

Sinner will now turn his attention to the Paris Masters, a tournament that he has struggled at in previous years.

The World No.1 is yet to surpass the third round at the indoor hard court tournament, having withdrawn from his match in Paris last year due to fatigue after a 2:37am finish.

And it may be a challenging tournament once again for Sinner, with a potential second round match against American Ben Shelton, something that he seems very aware of.

“Yeah, it’s a very, very tough draw,” Sinner said in his pre-tournament press conference. “But, you know, we go day by day. Then everything can happen. The draw can open up sometimes, or, you know, you never know what’s coming.

“I try to prepare in the best possible way for the first-round match. It’s going to be very difficult against Ben. It’s very, very difficult in any case.”

World No.1 at work 🔒#RolexParisMasters | @janniksin pic.twitter.com/icWr2IUbqv

— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) October 26, 2024

Sinner has a bye to the second round as the top seed in Paris, where he will play either Shelton or a qualifier/lucky loser.

Inside the baseline…

Although playing alongside the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is for sure an honour, it is hard to believe that the financial benefit was not the main incentive for Jannik Sinner and everyone who played at the Six Kings Slam exhibition. This is even more apparent, as both Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune received $1.5million for losing matches that lasted just over an hour. In terms of Paris, it would be a huge shock if Sinner did not achieve his best result at the tournament, as he has been by far the best hard court player this year.

READ MORE – Paris Masters 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?

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