It seems there is no escape for Jannik Sinner at the moment! No matter what he does, the doping saga keeps on haunting him time and again. Recently, after Carlos Alcaraz’s dismissal of Sinner’s ridiculous claims on Six Kings Slam, fans have yet again started to take a jibe at the Italian. For those who are unaware, the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Riyadh provided huge prize money to each of its six participants. They got $1.5 million for participation and Sinner added a further $6 million for winning the event. What did these two players say about participating in this mega-event? Here’s what led to all these recent controversies.
Well, recently during an interview while sharing his thoughts on his motivation to travel to Saudi Arabia and take part in this lucrative tournament, Sinner revealed, “No, I don’t play for money, it’s very simple.” He further went on to claim, “Of course, it’s a nice prize and everything but for me, I went there because there were possibly the six best players in the world, and then you can measure yourself with them.” Talking about the importance of money in his life, Sinner said, “Of course, money is important but not that much. I live a good life also without this money.” He stated that having good health and surrounding himself with great people is the most important thing for him.
Both Sinner and Alcaraz are currently taking part in the Paris Masters. During a recent press conference in Paris, Carlos Alcaraz was asked about his motivation to take part in the Six Kings Slam. Does he agree with his rival, Jannik Sinner’s statement? “Well, I mean, if I say (smiling), I mean, I went there just for fun or to play and forget the money, I’m gonna lie. That’s obviously — I mean, every person work for that, as well. You know, that’s how life is about,” said the Spaniard.
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Carlos keeps it real on the Six Kings Slam 💰 pic.twitter.com/cdFlVvDfVH
— TENNIS (@Tennis) October 28, 2024
Jannik Sinner’s $6 million prize money in this tournament accounts for nearly 50% of his entire earnings this year. On the other hand, Carlos Alcaraz’s $1.5 million prize money from Riyadh is about one-eighth of his total prize money for this season. Quite staggering, isn’t it? After hearing this contradictory statement from the Spaniard, several fans have now come out in numbers to spit venom on the world’s number-one tennis player.
Carlos Alcaraz’s contradictory statement on Six Kings Slam draws hate towards Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner will have to wait until early 2025 to learn the outcome of WADA’s appeal over his failed drug tests. However, fans are reluctant to sit idle till then! Some are speaking for Sinner, while others are speaking against him. We saw Carlos Alcaraz sympathizing with his rival after seeing all the things he had to go through in the last few months. Alcaraz said, “I hope that this thing… will be aside soon and he’s able to stay focused on what he loves, and that is playing tennis, trying to keep going.”
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Is Jannik Sinner's claim of not playing for money just a cover-up for his doping saga?
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However, there are a few fans who are still trying to bring the controversial topic to the plate while speaking about the Italian star. For example, while reacting to Alcaraz’s recent contradictory statement to Sinner on the Six Kings Slam a fan tweeted, “You gotta love this guy. Perfect answer, not some BS that doper Sinner was talking about. Not sure which was worse the story about physio cutting his pinky or not playing for the money.”
During the same interview at the Paris Masters, Alcaraz added, “You know, I love playing tennis. You know, most of the time I don’t think about the money. I just play for love or for fun. But you have to be realistic. You have to think that you want to earn money, you know, and that’s it. In Arabia is the most highest prize money ever in the history, so that was a good motivation, at least for me.” Reflecting on Carlos Alcaraz’s recent statement on the real motivation to take part in the Six Kings Slam, a fan wrote, “At least he’s honest. Jannik seems to be lying a lot these days…”
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are often seen praising each other for helping one another reach their highest levels. After winning the China Open this year, Alcaraz said, “For me, even more important, you and the people around you are great people. I respect you a lot as a player but even more as a person.” Amid their intense rivalry on the court, their friendship off the court is for real! However, some of the fans often claim “Jannik’s fake friend.” Now, recently after hearing each other comments on Six Kings Slam, some of the fans perhaps hinted at Jannik Sinner giving a fake reaction while answering about his real motivation to take part at the Six Kings Slam.”Nice to see Carlos keeping it real,” a fan tweeted.
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Another fan added, “And that’s why I prefer him over that Italian dude.” No matter what they say and what they do, there is always going to be a bit of a tussle and a bit of comparison in everything. We saw the same thing in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s prime days as well!
After hearing Sinner’s comment, we saw Stan Wawrinka dropping a ‘laughing’ emoji on that viral interview of the Italian. As soon as he commented on that post, his comment also went viral and he was forced to delete his tweet. A few sets of fans dropped a similar hilarious reaction, praising Alcaraz for his honest admission, but they were not pleased with Sinner’s statement on this. “Yes, it’s a job and no one should work for free. If they pay that for a exhibition… that’s very welcome.hanks Carlos for not playing the Saint Carrot card,” wrote a few. Share your thoughts on the recent statements made by Sinner and Alcaraz on the Six Kings Slam.
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Is Jannik Sinner's claim of not playing for money just a cover-up for his doping saga?