Andy Roddick shared his brutally honest opinion of the Six Kings Slam.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia hosted an exhibition event involving six of tennis’ best players battling it out to win the trophy and over £4 million, the highest prize money fee in history.
Jannik Sinner faced Carlos Alcaraz in the Six Kings Slam final and the World number one came from a set down to win the tournament.
While the players involved, including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, entertained fans in attendance and those watching around the world, Roddick was simply not interested.
What did Andy Roddick think of the Six Kings Slam?
Fans were looking forward to seeing Nadal and Djokovic, members of arguably tennis’ greatest era, take on Sinner and Alcaraz, the leading members of the new era.
Furthermore, seeing the the World number one and four-time Grand Slam winner face another in the final and the and legends Nadal and Djokovic square off one more time, certainly attracted viewers.
But the event, which included a tribute to Nadal who will retire in November, did not resonate with Andy Roddick, and explained how it differs from the team tournament of the Laver Cup.
“In all seriousness I never begrudge anyone their choices, someone is going to pay that amount of money and you have to go do awkward dancing,” Roddick said on his ‘Served’ podcast. “The whole thing looked completely unnatural, it just looked weird. I had no interest in it.
“Even the Novak and Rafa things, I don’t know, it felt fine, it felt like an exhibition but without the charm of the Laver Cup where you’re seeing the interactions of players or legends get brought back. For better or for worse, we are going to see more of these types of things.
“It’s easier to pay Sinner $6 million when you are not responsible for 122 other players, plus doubles and x, y and z. It’s one court, it’s not a million courts, there’s no expenses and it’s a marketing budget for a government. It’s great for them. Take your money.”
What does Jannik Sinner say about Carlos Alcaraz rivalry after the Six Kings Slam?
Sinner came from behind to defeat Alcaraz 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 at the Six Kings Slam and claim tennis’ most lucrative prize pot in history.
He and the Spaniard have contested some special matches in 2024 and the Saudi Arabia contest was another evenly-matched affair.
Following the contest, Sinner explained just how much of an impact his rivalry with Alcaraz is having on him and his career. “We try to push ourselves to the limit,” Sinner said. “I wake up in the morning trying to understand how to beat him.
“These kinds of rivalries and players always push us to our 100% limit. I’m very happy about this today. We understand each other very well. We travel a lot, we are I would say good friends, not obviously the best of the best.
“We also like to share every time we go on the court, we try to enjoy it. Until now every match was very good level-wise. Hopefully this rivalry will last as long as possible.”
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