In the Six Kings Slam final in Ryadh, world number one Jannik Sinner overcame Carlos Alcaraz 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3 after trailing by just one set. Sinner’s three victories at the tennis exhibition earned him a total of 7.5 million dollars—the largest payout in sports history. Six million of those are from the victory over Alcaraz in the championship match. After the Spaniards had won their first three official meetings at Indian Wells, Roland Garros, and Beijing, Sinner defeated Alcaraz in his first head-to-head match in 2024.
Sinner broke in the fourth game before holding serve to consolidate the break for 4-1. Alcaraz won three consecutive games, breaking back to level to 4-4. Both players went on serve en route to tie-break. Alcaraz earned his first mini-break to take a 3-1 lead. Sinner pulled back to draw level to 5-5. Alcaraz closed out the tie-break 7-5 with a second mini-break.
Sinner earned an early break at the start of the second set to take a 3-1 lead and earned three break points for a double break lead, but Alcaraz saved them all. Alcaraz fended off the final break point with a forehand slice setting up a volley. Alcaraz broke serve in the next game to level the match to 3-3. Sinner won 13 of the next 16 points to break Alcaraz twice to seal the second set 6-3, sending the match to the third set.
Sinner earned a break point in Alcaraz’s first service game. Both players went on serve until the eighth game, when Sinner earned the crucial break after Alcaraz made three unforced errors, including two double faults. Sinner served out the match at 5-3 with three big serves and a backhand up the line.
At the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Ryadh, twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in the third-place play-off. In order to take a 2-0 lead, Djokovic broke in the opening game and held serve in a closer second game with a running forehand winner. In the third game, Nadal held service to preserve his lead, but Djokovic made an incredible shot to break through and take a 3-1 lead.
Nadal held serve for 2-3 before producing a superb shot to stay in the sixth game, but Djokovic held serve with an ace to take a 4-2 lead. The former world number 1 broke Nadal to race out to a 5-2 lead before wrapping up the first set with a hold at 15.
Nadal pushed Djokovic to the limit in the second set and forced his Serbian opponent to the tie-break.
Djokovic broke again in the first game of the second set, but Nadal pulled back on serve to draw level to 1-1 before holding serve to take a 2-1 lead in the third game. Djokovic held serve at love to draw level to 2-2. Nadal earned two break points in the sixth game but Djokovic held serve to draw level to 3-3. Nadal pushed Djokovic to the limit, but Djokovic held serve at deuce to draw level to 4-4 before breaking serve to take a 5-4 lead. Nadal saved a match point before breaking Djokovic again. He held his service game to take a 6-5 lead, but Djokovic held serve to love to send the set to a tie-break. Djokovic earned a mini-break to take a 5-4, but Nadal pulled back to draw to draw level to 5-5. Djokovic came out on top with a mini-break to win a hard-fought tie-break by the scoreline 7-5.
The match is not an official tournament and won’t be added to their previous 60 head-to-head matches. Djokovic leads 31-29 in their official Head-to-head series. Djokovic beats Nadal 6-1 6-4 in their last official match at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris before beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
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