Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz said on Monday the record prize money on offer at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia earlier this month motivated him to play the tournament as the world number two prepares for the Paris Masters. said.
Italian rival Jannik Sinner dismissed previous claims that he took part in exhibition events for financial rewards, emphasizing that he traveled to Riyadh for a sporting challenge.
But Alcaraz acknowledged the financial aspect played a role, earning $1.5 million over four days in mid-October.
“I love tennis. Most of the time I don’t think about money. I just play for love or fun. But you have to be realistic. You have to think about making money,” Alcaraz told reporters on Monday. “Arabia “It was a good motivation for me at least because I won the biggest and highest prize money ever.”
The Spaniard has not had much success at the Paris Masters in recent years, with reaching the quarterfinals being his best performance. Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon titles this year, but said her season took a huge hit.
“I didn’t play good tennis in this tournament. I’ll probably be tired towards the end of the year. I had to understand that, as I said last year, the season continues beyond September,” he said. . “The schedule is so tight, it’s so tight, so when I come to the last tournament of the year, maybe last year I was tired and didn’t play as much as I wanted to, but now this year, I think about it. It feels different.”
Top-seeded teams begin their campaigns on Tuesday, with some games starting as early as Monday.
In the round of 64, 10th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) defeated Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, while France’s Adrian Mannarino (11th seed) defeated the United States’ He shocked Tommy Paul (11th seed) 6-3, 6-3. 7-5.
Alcaraz will face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the round of 32 on Tuesday.
The Paris indoor tournament runs until November 3.
