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Alcaraz honestly admitted that he played in Riyadh for money, but Sinner did not.

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Alcaraz honestly admitted that he played in Riyadh for money, but Sinner did not.

A difference in approach, perhaps a difference in intellectual honesty in recognizing a situation that is obvious to everyone, but Carlos Alcaraz had the integrity to admit that he traveled to Riyadh to play in Saudi Arabia’s rich exhibition The Six Kings Slam, and also for the rich prize money offered by PIF, the Saudi Arabian investment fund that is now an ATP partner. A big difference considering his Italian rival Jannik Sinner said that he went to Riyadh only to play against the best tennis players on the planet, and not for prize money.

“Of course it’s a good prize, but I went there because there were six of the best players in the world. I don’t play for money, it’s simple. I could compete with competitors like them, and for me it was a pleasant event. “Money is not the most important thing, I live well without it,” Sinner said.

On the one hand, people emphasized that this is not an official tournament and that without high stakes it would not attract a single tennis player; on the other hand, however, many took into account the level of the main characters, and also took into account the player’s possible desire to improve, comparing himself with the best. At a press conference as part of media day Paris Rolex MastersReporters asked Alcaraz how Sinner said in an interview that he didn’t go to the Six Kings Slam for the money and that his motives were different, and what pushed Carlitos to play in the exhibition tournament instead. The Spaniard was very sincereexplaining that he loves his job but admitting that money was on his mind when he agreed to take part in the Saudi event.

“If I said I went there just to have fun or play, without thinking about money, I would be lying. This is obvious: every person works for this. That’s how life works. I love to play tennis and play tennis most of the time. don’t think about money. I play for love and fun, but you have to be realistic. You want to make money. Saudi Arabia had the highest prize money in history, so that was good motivation, at least for me. “, he said.

I don’t want to say that Yannick said something that was not true, far from it, but to say that he only played for his opponents on the court seems impossible. Opponents of a different level, of course, were a strong motivation for the Italian, but such prize money, the highest in the history of tennis, could not but influence his decision.

Speaking of his rivalries, Alcaraz, with the exception of the Six Kings Slam, has defeated Sinner three out of three times in 2024: in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the French Open, as well as in the final of the China Open in Beijing. In addition to direct clashes with the Italian, the Spaniard was the author of a magnificent season, winning two Grand Slam tournaments in a row at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Despite this, the gap separating him from Sinner and the top of the ATP rankings is 4,300 points. A gap he will try to make less obvious at the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Shortly before his Paris-Bercy debut, on media day, Alcaraz spoke about some of his disappointing performances and his direct rival’s season.

“The distance between me and Sinner in the rankings? It doesn’t matter that I beat Yannick three times in 2024. I probably didn’t play very well in some tournaments. My winning percentage is really high, but Yannick is on another level this year. He has a winning percentage of over 91% on the season, a percentage that few players have ever achieved before. I think all players try to be consistent throughout the year. This is the goal I set. For myself, next year there are tournaments where I didn’t play very well and didn’t go far, I’ll try not to lose in the first rounds, as happened in some circumstances this year,” he explained.

Carlitos will face the winner of the match between Lorenzo Sonego and Nicolas Jarry in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.