It’s deja vu all over again in Saudi Arabia this week. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner came through their semifinals and will face each other in for the coveted $6 million dollar prize money on Saturday – after a day’s rest – in Riyadh.
The pair have played the last three major finals, and collectively swept the last eight majors, with each winning four, so only fitting that they play for the biggest prize purse of the year.
Alcaraz put on a drop shot clinic against Taylor Fritz, and logged a 6-4, 6-2 win in 69 minutes, the Spaniard winning for the second time this fall against Fritz, after Fritz beat Alcaraz at Laver Cup in September.
“12 out of 13, that’s great,” Alcaraz said when told by reporters of his drop shot efficiency on against Fritz (he won 12 of 13 points in which he tried a drop shot). “After five or six I just realized that I was winning all the drop shots that I was making. I think Tokyo was kind of the same, I knew that the drop shot was going to be a great weapon today.”
Sinner took out 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the second semifinal, further reinforcing his dominance over the legend whom he has defeated five consecutive times on the tour, including semifinals at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon this year.
The 6-4, 6-2 victory was another reminder that the sport belongs to Sinner and Alcaraz these days, even if Djokovic is still the GOAT and a sentimental favorite as he soldiers on at the age of 38.
At the Six Kings Slam, each player is guaranteed an appearance fee of $1.5 million; the last one standing gets a bonus that brings his total to four times that for the event, which is being broadcast live on Netflix.
“The money is nothing we’re trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation,” said Sinner earlier this week.
Apparently.
Sinner raced out to a double-break lead in the opening set before Djokovic earned one of the breaks back. The Italian served out the set with ease in the tenth game.
He broke the Serbian icon in the first game of the second set and never looked back. Djokovic had his moments and did his best to work the crowd, but Sinner was too focused, too methodical, too good.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t see a longer match today,” Djokovic said. “It felt like a runaway train, he was smacking the ball from all corners and I was just trying to hang in there, he was just too good.”
He converted his first match point to close the match in 62 blink-and-you-missed-it minutes.
“It’s never nice when somebody kicks your ass like this on the court,” Djokovic added. “But it’s amazing that I’m still able to still play at the high level, being Top 10, Top 5. I’m trying my best… It’s been an incredible journey and an amazing career, and there is so much to celebrate, but I would like if somebody would trade a younger body with me, that would be nice, just for a year so I can try to win against these guys.
“Jokes aside, I still have the drive, I know it’s becoming much more difficult for me to win against Jannik and Carlos particularly, but I’m going to keep on challenging them until it happens.”
Since the beginning of 2024 Alcaraz has won seven of eight against Alcaraz.
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