The Six Kings Slam is an invitation-only men’s exhibition staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It brings six of the best-known players in the sport together for three match days and pays more to its winner than any tournament on the calendar. It awards no ATP ranking points, the Associated Press has reported. That combination, the biggest cheque in tennis attached to results that count for nothing in the rankings, is the reason it needs explaining.
Format
Six players take part. In both editions so far, two players received byes into the semi-finals and the other four played quarter-finals, according to AP. The semi-finals followed the next day, then a rest day, then the final and a third-place match.
Because it is an exhibition, the organisers set the field by invitation rather than by ranking or entry list. There is no qualifying, no wild card system and no draw in the tour sense.
Prize money
The winner of the first edition in 2024 received US$6 million, AP and ANSA reported. ANSA described it as reportedly the largest prize in the history of a tennis tournament.
For 2025, AP reported that each player was guaranteed an appearance fee of reportedly US$1.5 million, and that the winner received a bonus bringing his total to four times that. The German news agency dpa gave the same breakdown: a US$4.5 million winner’s bonus on top of the US$1.5 million fee.
For comparison, AP noted that the US Open’s US$5 million payout to each singles champion was the record for a Grand Slam. The Six Kings Slam winner, playing three matches at most, earns more than that.
The players have not pretended otherwise. “The money is nothing we’re trying to hide,” Jannik Sinner said before the 2025 edition, AP reported, adding that “it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation.” Taylor Fritz told AP: “I’d love for them to show me a tournament where you can go play three matches” and potentially make US$6 million.
Prize money for 2026 had not been published by the organisers or reported by an approved source when this explainer was written.
Results so far
2024. The first edition, played from 16 to 19 October 2024, featured Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune, according to AP. Nadal and Djokovic received byes. In the semi-finals Alcaraz beat Nadal 6-3, 6-3 and Sinner beat Djokovic 6-2, 6-7(0), 6-4. Sinner won the final 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 against Alcaraz. Djokovic beat Nadal 6-2, 7-6(5) in the third-place match. “The last dance was an epic one,” Djokovic said, AP reported.
2025. The second edition, at ANB Arena, featured Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, according to AP. Alcaraz and Djokovic received byes. Alcaraz beat Fritz 6-4, 6-2 and Sinner beat Djokovic 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals, according to dpa, EFE and ANSA. Sinner beat Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the final, PA Media and dpa reported. Djokovic retired from the third-place match after Fritz won a first set that went to a tie-break.
Sinner has won both editions, beating Alcaraz in both finals.
What the ATP rules say
The ATP rulebook limits when its leading players can take part in exhibitions, which it calls special events. Under the rule in the 2025 rulebook, which applies to players ranked in the Top 30:
- No special event may be played during the tournament weeks of any ATP Masters 1000 event, ATP 500 event or the Nitto ATP Finals.
- No special event may be played within 30 days and 100 miles (160 km) of those events, or in the same city market.
- No special event may be played during an ATP 250 week if it falls within the same distance or market limits.
- A player may not play a special event in the week of any tour event he is entered in.
- Players may petition the ATP chief executive for an exemption. A breach counts as a Major Offense.
Both editions so far were played in mid-October. In 2026 the week after Shanghai, 19 to 25 October, carries only ATP 250 events, in Almaty, Brussels and Lyon, according to the ATP calendar. The ATP 500s in Basel and Vienna begin on 26 October.
There is a second, financial rule. The 2025 rulebook defines a “Qualified Non-Covered Event” as one that includes a Top 100 player and meets tests such as running for three or more consecutive days within a seven-day period. Playing one costs a player his Platinum Benefit eligibility, which he needs to share in the ATP 500 and Masters 1000 bonus pools. Events first held in 2023 are exempt until 31 December 2026; the Six Kings Slam began in 2024, so that exemption does not cover it. How the bonus pools work is set out in GTN’s ATP Bonus Pool explainer.
No approved source has reported whether the ATP formally sanctions the event, or how the ATP has applied either rule to it.
Where it sits in Saudi tennis
AP has reported the event as part of Saudi Arabia’s growing role in tennis, alongside the Public Investment Fund’s sponsorship of the tours’ rankings, and noted that Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have criticised that role over LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. The Public Investment Fund is the naming partner of the PIF ATP Rankings under a partnership announced in February 2024, according to the ATP. No approved source reports that the fund finances the Six Kings Slam.
The 2026 edition
Sinner, the two-time champion, ended his 2026 season on 6 October because of a knee injury, the ATP, AP, Reuters and AFP reported. “I need a course of treatment for my knee, which means that the 2026 season is officially over,” he said, AP reported. None of those reports mentioned the Six Kings Slam.
L’Equipe reported on 6 October that organisers had named Learner Tien, the world No. 17, to replace Sinner. [UNVERIFIED: Tien replacing Sinner rests on L’Equipe, an attributed-only outlet; no wire or organiser confirmation found in an approved source]
Whoever wins in Riyadh, the result will not change the rankings. Zverev’s position as year-end No. 1, Sinner’s weekly No. 1 ranking and the race for the last places at the Nitto ATP Finals are decided only by tour events. For how those are settled, see GTN’s ATP Year-End No. 1 explainer and ATP Finals Alternates explainer.
