by Andy Roddick pointed out that Jannik Sinner earned “more than 25%” of his career prize money at the Six Kings Slam and suggested that it made him “sick”.
The American tennis star also stated that he had “no interest” in the event in Saudi Arabia as, in his opinion, it looked “totally unnatural” and “weird.”
Sinner pocketed a staggering $6 million for winning the Six Kings Slam – the largest paycheck in tennis history.
The Italian star defeated Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the exhibition tournament.
The 23-year-old’s prize money for his three games in Riyadh is almost half of the $12,032,935 he has earned so far in over 10 months of his outstanding 2024 season. The world No. 1 has won seven ATP titles this year, including two Grand Slams.
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Roddick, a former world No. 1, earned $20,640,030 in prize money during his 12-year professional career from 2000 to 2012. He won 32 ATP singles titles, including the 2003 US Open and five Masters 1000 crowns.
In one episode of the Served with Andy Roddick On the podcast, Roddick was critical of the Six Kings Slam when he talked about the huge prize money on offer.
“Seriously, I don’t begrudge anyone their election,” said the American. “Listen, someone is going to pay you so much money and you have to go out dancing awkwardly.
“The whole thing looked completely unnatural. It just looked weird. I had no interest in it.
“Even Novak and Rafa [Nadal] I don’t know, it felt good, felt like an exhibition but without the charm of a Laver Cup where you see the interactions between players and legends brought back.
“We’re going to see more of this kind of thing, for better or worse, the outsized budgets of these exhos.
“It’s easier to pay Sinner $6 million when you’re not responsible for 122 other players in a given event, plus doubles and X, Y and Z.”
“It’s one court, it’s not a million courts, there’s no spending and it’s a marketing budget for a government.”
Roddick sarcastically stated that the fact that Sinner earned more than a quarter of his total career earnings from the event did not bother him.
“I definitely don’t feel bad that he (Sinner) earned more than 25% of my career prize money in three days of tournament tennis,” he noted.
READ MORE: 2024 ATP prize money leader: Jannik Sinner extends his lead and breaks the $12 million mark, Novak Djokovic comes sixth
