World primary Carlos Alcaraz has defended his participation in exhibition tournaments, insisting that gamers are sometimes misunderstood once they select to play alongside the demanding skilled tennis calendar.
Alcaraz, 22, is at the moment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for this 12 months’s version of the Six Kings Slam, a profitable exhibition occasion that started in 2024. The Spaniard has beforehand voiced issues in regards to the intense workload in Asia, the place a number of gamers struggled bodily, and stated he would take into account skipping obligatory occasions to prioritize his well being.
The Six Kings Slam, scheduled from 15 to 18 Octoberoptions six high gamers: Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The occasion provides a reported $4.5 million (£3.4 million) in prize cash, with some gamers reportedly receiving seven-figure sums merely to seem. Reviews recommend the winner might take residence as a lot as $6 million (£4.5 million).
Regardless of the excessive stakes, Alcaraz believes that shorter-format exhibitions just like the Six Kings Slam are far much less demanding than official tour competitions.
He stated: “A number of gamers are speaking in regards to the calendar, how tight it’s with a whole lot of tournaments, tournaments of two weeks, after which making excuses with exhibitions. It is a totally different format, Completely different state of affairs enjoying exhibitions than the official tournaments, 15, 16 days in a row, having such a excessive focus and demanding bodily. We’re simply having enjoyable for one or two days and enjoying some tennis, and that is nice, and why we select the exhibitions. I perceive [the criticism]however typically folks do not perceive us, our opinions. It is probably not demanding mentally [compared with] after we’re having such lengthy occasions like two weeks or two and a half weeks.”
Alcaraz claimed his eighth title of the season in Tokyo final month, regardless of an ankle damage in his opening match that pressured him to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters. He’ll compete in Saudi Arabia regardless of the damage not being absolutely healed. “Every part’s OK,” he stated. “I have been recovering the ankle as a lot as I can. I do not really feel 100% – the doubts are there once I’m shifting on court docket, however it improved so much and I’ll compete and carry out properly within the Six Kings Slam.”
Alcaraz has a bye to the semi-finals, which will likely be broadcast on Netflix, and is about to face Fritz on Thursday after the American defeated Zverev 6-3, 6-4 within the quarter-finals. Within the different quarter-final, world quantity two Sinner beat Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3 and can face Djokovic within the semi-finals.
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