Although Jannik Sinner has ended his 2026 season early, he became the center of discussion when the Six Kings Slam announced the decision to postpone the star-studded exhibition event.
The Six Kings Slam was originally scheduled to begin on October 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, and Learner Tien in action. Sinner was initially slated to participate, but he was replaced by Tien after a knee injury left the Italian sidelined since his Wimbledon triumph.
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The exhibition event has now been postponed to December 27-30 due to the unrest in the Middle East after the attack on the international airport in Riyadh.
Given that Sinner has won both previous occasions of the Six Kings Slam, fans joked that the five-time Grand Slam champion had made his chances of a three-peat possible with “witchcraft.”
“Welcome to jannik sinner’s witchcraftery,” one fan posted.
“Going a bit far to keep your chances alive mate @janniksin,” another fan said.
“So there’s still something jannik can threepeat,” a fan commented.
Jannik Sinner also pocketed $6 million both times he won the Six Kings Slam, prompting fans to suggest that the substantial prize pool could tempt the Italian to re-enter the draw under the revised schedule. The event offers players a $1.5 million appearance fee, with an additional $4.5 million up for grabs for the winner.
“Will be hilarious if capitalist king Jannik comes back to play this now. 😭,” a fan wrote.
“Jannik Sinner has already contacted the bank PRONTOOOOOO YES MAKE WAY MAKE WAY THEY’RE COMING,” said another.
Carlos Alcaraz addresses Jannik Sinner’s injury hiatus with ATP schedule complaint
Ahead of his campaign at the Shanghai Masters, Carlos Alcaraz addressed Jannik Sinner’s hiatus and attributed the increase in injuries to the demanding ATP calendar.
“One of the reasons we had to see the players who are getting injured [is because] I think they are pushing us too much out of the line sometimes, to play a lot of tournaments, to play a lot of matches. I think it’s getting in the wrong direction,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz also sent a heartwarming message of support to Sinner, expressing hope that the Italian would be back to his physical best for the 2027 season.
“I just wish Jannik the best for these months, just to be in good shape for the next season. Hopefully [we will] see him soon, but I think they have to see a little bit [of] what’s going on on the Tour along with the players,” he added.
Amid Sinner’s absence, Alcaraz recently triumphed at the Japan Open but suffered an unexpected straight-sets loss to Zizou Bergs in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai.
Edited by Urvi Mehra
