Six Kings Slam: Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune

$1.5 million for 70 minutes on the pitch: not a bad deal for Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune.

The detour to Saudi Arabia literally paid off for Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune. Although both players lost in the quarterfinals of the “Six Kings Slam” against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in around 70 minutes, according to media reports, they received an entry fee of 1.5 million US dollars just for their participation in Riyadh.

For comparison: Medvedev received $2.5 million in prize money for his triumph at the US Open 2021. In Saudi Arabia, the winner collects $6 million – in addition to the generous signing bonus. Critics accuse the country of wanting to use “sportswashing” to cover up mistakes such as human rights violations.

Nadal is an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Association

Apparently this doesn’t stop the tennis stars. In addition to Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev and Rune, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are also competing in Riyadh these days. The Spaniard, who will end his career later this year, even acts as an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Association.

After the detour to the “Six Kings Slam”, Medvedev and Rune will continue on the regular ATP tour next week. While the Russian will be serving at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the Dane will be fighting for points at the parallel event in Basel.