Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he only played in the Saudi Six Kings Slam for the money, after Jannik Sinner claimed the prize was not on his mind.
Alcaraz, 21, finished second in the Middle Eastern tournament, but still managed to bank himself a handsome £1.15million payday. Sinner overcame the Spaniard 7-6, 3-6, 3-6 in the final to bank himself the ludicrous £4.6m.
The two tennis stars outlasted Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev to reach the final. But while Sinner claimed he flew to the Middle East so he could test himself against the best players in the business, Alcaraz’s intention was completely different.
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Sinner recently said: “I don’t play for money, it’s very simple. Sure, $6million (£4.6m) is a lot of prize money, but I went to Riyadh because there were probably the six best players in the world, and you can measure yourself against them.”
When faced with the same query, Alcaraz peeled back the layers on his game plan and said: “Well, I mean, if I say: ‘I went there just for fun or to play and forget the money’, I’m gonna lie.
“I mean, every person works for that, as well. You know, that’s how life is about. I love playing tennis. You know, most of the time I don’t think about the money. I just play for love or for fun.
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(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
“But you have to be realistic. You have to think that you want to earn money, you know, and that’s it. You know, in Arabia it was the highest prize money ever in history, so that was a good motivation, at least for me.”
Alcaraz faces Nicolas Jarry in the first-round of the Paris Masters this evening.