Sinner retains Six Kings crown in victory over Alcaraz

  ROME – Jannik Sinner won the final of the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, beating world number one Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) to defend his title.

  This marks the duo’s sixth final this year, after they became the first male duo in tennis history to contest three major finals in the same calendar year. Alcaraz had won all but one of their head to heads in finals in 2025, in a move which saw the Spaniard take the number one spot in the world rankings from the Italian.

  Sinner had breezed through his semi-final against Novak Djokovic, beating the Serb in straight sets, while Alcaraz also beat his semi-final opponent Taylor Fritz in straight sets. The final was set.

  Sinner beat Alcaraz on Saturday evening 6-2, 6-4 to retain his title in Riyadh. The two also faced off in the Six Kings Slam final in 2024, which saw Sinner be crowned the exhibition tournament’s first, and only, champion.

  This means, for the second year in a row, Sinner claimed the biggest money prize in the sport, this year winning the 4.5 million USD prize money on top of 1.5 million USD that all six players in the exhibition receive.

  Despite the win, Sinner will not receive points in the world rankings because the Six Kings Slam is an exhibition tournament and not part of the ATP World Tour.

  Speaking after the final, Alcaraz said that Sinner “was just too good” and deserved to win. The pair said how they gave each other “motivation” to improve and spoke about their “special friendship” off the court.

  Elsewhere in the Italian tennis world, despite losing in the semi-finals of the Ningbo open Jasmine Paolini qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh which will take place at the beginning of November.

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