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Six of the world’s top-ranked men’s tennis players will be in town for the 2024 Riyadh Season to compete in the first-ever “Six Kings Slam,” the General Entertainment Authority said yesterday.
What we know: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune will all be here for the tourney. All athletes have won Grand Slam titles except for Rune, who said he hopes “to win a Grand Slam” this year when asked about his goals for the year.
We’re all waiting to hear Vamos Rafa from the stands for the first time: Nadal, who was named an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) last month, said he was “very excited to play for the first time in Riyadh,” according to the statement. Djokovic said he was excited to return to the Kingdom after participating in the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup in December. World number 2 Alcaraz won the 2023 cup, beating Djokovic.
The exhibition will likely follow a “two days on, one day off” pattern to save participating stars from being penalized by the ATP Tour, according to The Telegraph. This would see the event split up so games are not played for more than two days at a time, allowing players to dodge new rules that would see them being stripped off their “platinum status” if they take part in unofficial events that run for “three or more consecutive days.”
And that’s not all on the Kingdom’s tennis spree: Jeddah will host the Next Gen ATP Finals, from 2023-2027, the ATP announced last year.
Officials are also trying to land the hosting rights for the 2024 Women’s Tennis Association finals. Retired tennis icons Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are pushing back against the bid, drawing a smart reply from Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, the Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington. Princess Reema said Evert and Navratilova’s opposition was “based on arguments that are outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our culture.”
