Dominic Thiem believes there’s nothing fallacious with gamers signing up for the Six Kings Slam just because it is their job to play tennis and such occasions pay very good cash.
Final week, the Six Kings Slam returned for its second version in Riyadh and featured an extremely robust participant discipline – Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Jack Draper was additionally attributable to play however needed to withdraw injured earlier than being changed by Tsitsipas.
For simply collaborating, a participant obtained $1.5 million. The winner, who ended up being Sinner, went house with a surprising $6 million prize cash – which is far more than any Grand Slam paid its winner this 12 months.
Since gamers have been very vocal concerning the schedule being too demanding currently, the Six Kings Slam contributors additionally drew criticism and backlash.
Thiem: Only a few folks would flip down such sums… You need to take such alternatives
“I do not suppose you may actually blame the gamers. I believe only a few folks would flip down such sums. It is a widespread phrase, however: as an athlete, you solely have a restricted time to earn cash. You’ve got normally solely discovered one factor: to play tennis. You begin at 9 or ten years outdated and wager every little thing on one card,” Thiem informed Der Customary.
“Of the highest 100, in all probability 99 do not have a highschool diploma. You need to take each alternative to get by financially to construct up a margin of maneuver. It additionally takes time to study one thing else afterward. As youngsters and youngsters, we did not have time for that.”
When addressing the criticism, Sinner bluntly acknowledged that, “It’s not a secret why we play these occasions.”
Alcaraz additionally stated that he did not see something fallacious in taking part in the Six Kings Slams as a result of it was far much less demanding than an ATP-level event.
