“They are killing us with this,” complains Carlos Alcaraz, who collects millions in Saudi Arabia
Carlos Alcaraz sharply criticizes the busy tournament calendar in men’s tennis while playing exhibition tournaments at the same time. The Spaniard thereby reveals an irritating ignorance of his competitors.
In 2022, at the age of 19, he won the US Open and became the youngest number 1 in the history of men’s tennis. Carlos Alcaraz is now a four-time Grand Slam winner. The business magazine “Forbes” estimates the Spaniard’s earnings last year alone at 42 million dollars, with “only” a little more than 10 million coming from prize money.
Carlos Alcaraz follows the call of money to Saudi Arabia.
Bild: Kai Forsterling / EPA
He earns three times as much money because he lends his face to luxury brands as an advertising medium. But nothing allows this highly talented man to earn as much money in such a short time as exhibition fights. Carlos Alcaraz will soon experience the payday of his life. In mid-October he will take part in the Six Kings Slam (October 16 to 19) in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
The field of participants is illustrious: Jannik Sinner, the world number 1 and US Open winner, Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic (24 titles), 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. In the desert state, it’s not about world ranking points or sporting merits. It’s about money: just showing up will be rewarded with 1.5 million dollars, and the winner will receive 6 million. That’s twice as much as Alcaraz got for his Wimbledon victory.
The six prominent participants of the “Six King Slam”.
Image: zvg
Organizers in Saudi Arabia cheat
At the same time, the distinguished sextet’s competitors are playing in Antwerp, Belgium, Stockholm or the Kazakh capital Astana for a title, world ranking points and a comparatively paltry CHF 150,000 in prize money for the respective winner. The tournaments belong to the ATP 250 category and are therefore the lowest class in the calendar.
The tournament will be played over three days, with the final taking place after a rest day. This is a trick by the organizers, as the rules of the Professional Association of Men’s Tennis (ATP) prohibit players from taking part in “unofficial events” that take place on “three or more consecutive days” during the season.
Anyone who violates this rule will lose their platinum status. This gives athletes access to the bonus pool at the end of the year as well as pension contributions. The bonus pool is a kind of profit-sharing scheme for tournament profits and in 2023 comprised a record sum of 33.5 million US dollars, which was divided among the players according to a non-public key.
There were already major exhibition fights in Riyadh in 2019 and 2022.
Build: Diriyah Tennis Cup
Zverev also expresses criticism
At Roger Federer’s recent Laver Cup in Berlin, which also featured handsome appearance fees and prize money of 250,000 Swiss francs for each of the winning teams, and to which only an exclusive circle of the world’s best has access, the 21-year-old chose clear words.
“They’re killing us with this calendar,” he replied when asked whether the tennis season was overloaded. Alexander Zverev agreed with this criticism. “The health of the players is in danger. Things can’t go on like this,” said the German, who is also a welcome guest at exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. Between the end of December and mid-November, 70 tournaments of various categories will be held.
With Team Europe, Carlos Alcaraz won the Laver Cup in Berlin.
Photo: Christophe Gateau / DPA
Players ranked in the top 30 in the world rankings must play eight or nine Masters 1000 tournaments in addition to the Grand Slam tournaments, unless they are injured. This does not apply to players who are over 30 years old, have played more than 600 matches on the ATP Tour and have been playing on the ATP Tour for more than 12 years.
Anyone who fails to meet their obligations without a valid reason (an injury) will have their share of the bonus payments at the end of the year (up to $3 million per player) reduced. There are no further consequences.
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are apparently blind in one eye.
The criticism reveals an irritating ignorance of lower-ranked players or those who are injured and have no income at all during this time. They have few or no sponsors and are not lured to Saudi Arabia for exhibition matches with millions of dollars. They rely on being able to compete in tournaments every week to make a living.
Novak Djokovic is also expected in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
Image: Andrej Cukic / EPA
Alcaraz: Exhibition despite injury
The outcry from Alcaraz and Zverev is also absurd because they inflate their calendar with tournaments like the Laver Cup and exhibition matches, which they play voluntarily because they are well paid. Alcaraz, for example, played against Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas in March after having to withdraw from the first round of the ATP tournament in Rio de Janeiro the previous week due to an ankle injury.
World number 1 Jannik Sinner takes a more sober view. “As a player, I have the choice whether to play a tournament or not. You don’t have to play every tournament,” said the Italian, who is currently competing in Beijing.
Or Novak Djokovic. He recently announced that he would prefer to only play in the Grand Slam tournaments and for Serbia. And if a sheikh lures him with his oil millions, he’ll just fly to Saudi Arabia for a few days and not complain about the calendar.
