By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday October 19, 2024
Jannik Sinner capped an entertaining weekend in Saudi Arabia, and brought him a hefty prize.
Photo Source: TTC
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday October 19, 2024
Jannik Sinner has struggled against his biggest rival Carlos Alcaraz on court in 2024, losing all three of their official battles. But on Saturday at the lucrative Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia, Sinner took the win – and the lion’s share of prize money.
The Italian rallied for a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Alcaraz, clearing the $6 million winner’s prize purse.
All other players received a minimum of $1.5 million, merely for participating.
On a day that started with an emotional matchup between tennis titans Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner finished with a young gun spectacle that delighted the fans in Riyadh.
Sinner earned 13 break points and converted five, including four in the final two sets as he surged past the 21-year-old Spaniard.
The pair exchanged pleasantries at the net and again during the trophy presentation, each player thanking the other for forcing them to raise their level to meet the challenge.
“As Carlos said, we try to push ourselves to the limits,” said victorious Sinner. “I wake up in the morning trying to understand the ways to beat him and these kinds of rivalries and these kinds of players, they push us, always to our 100 percent limit.”