Dominic Thiem believes there’s nothing mistaken with gamers signing up for the Six Kings Slam just because it's 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 sturdy participant subject – Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Jack Draper was additionally because of play however needed to withdraw injured earlier than being changed by Tsitsipas.
For simply collaborating, a participant acquired $1.5 million. The winner, who ended up being Sinner, went residence 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 recently, the Six Kings Slam contributors additionally drew criticism and backlash.
Thiem: Only a few individuals would flip down such sums… You need to take such alternatives
“I don't assume you’ll be able to actually blame the gamers. I believe only a few individuals would flip down such sums. It's a typical phrase, however: as an athlete, you solely have a restricted time to earn cash. You've normally solely discovered one factor: to play tennis. You begin at 9 or ten years previous and guess the whole lot on one card," Thiem instructed Der Normal.
"Of the highest 100, in all probability 99 don't 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 didn't have time for that.”
When addressing the criticism, Sinner bluntly acknowledged that, "It isn’t a secret why we play these occasions."
Alcaraz additionally mentioned that he didn't see something mistaken in enjoying the Six Kings Slams as a result of it was far much less demanding than an ATP-level event.
