John Isner Questions Reason Behind Holding Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 After Australian Open: “Why Would Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Play?”

Recently, Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz to bag the $6 million prize money at the Six Kings Slam.

John Isner Questions Reason Behind Holding Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 After Australian Open: “Why Would Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Play?”

Carlos Alcaraz, John Isner, Jannik Sinner (mage via X/Carlos.Alcaraz4K, Wikipedia, The Tennis Letter)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

The ATP and SURJ Sports Investment, a Public Investment Fund (PIF) company, will launch the 10th Masters 1000 event in 2028 in Saudi Arabia. Their plan is to hold it in February during the Middle East swing.

Amidst the increasing scheduling complaints from the players, the move to have another Masters 1000 was censured. But there are additionalr questions that need answering.

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi made it clear in a press conference that the Saudi event will be a non-mandatory Masters 1000 tournament. And this only raised the question of whether top players, such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, will participate. John Isner is convinced that the tournament will offer a huge prize money, including the participation fee, to try to lure the top players.

Why would Jannik and Carlos Alcaraz play a non-mandatory 1000 after the Australian Open? Why would they play it? Well, are they holding a stick? Are they going to offer appearance fees, or they can’t?

John Isner said on the Nothing Major podcast

Saudi Arabia is now the host of several important tennis events. The WTA Finals will be played in Riyadh, while Jeddah will host the Next-Gen ATP Finals.

Riyadh hosts an event that offers huge prize money, which no ATP-sanctioned tournament gives. It’s the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition tournament that takes place over a span of four days (one day off because of an ATP rule); and Sinner, in the first and second editions, took home the $6 million prize money by defeating Alcaraz.

So, you would logically think that there are going to be appearance fees under the table for these guys to show up and play. It’s completely ridiculous. There are way more questions than answers right now. It makes no sense.

John Isner added

Top players, after making deep runs in Grand Slam events, generally take some days off by skipping at least one event to rest their bodies. Four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, this year, chose not to defend his Rotterdam Open title after his Australian Open win, while Alcaraz did not play the Canadian Open after his US Open win.

Andrey Rublev on what makes Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner better than the rest

The fact that World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and World No.2 Jannik Sinner have 11,340 and 10,500 ranking points, respectively, while World No.3 Alexander Zverev has 6,160 ranking points, clearly points out how the two young Grand Slam champions are so ahead of the rest of the competition. Since 2024, they have played a combined 32 finals and won 24 titles, including eight Majors.

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner (4)
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K, Jannik Sinner HQ)

This year, they have clinched a combined 12 titles from 18 finals. Recently, Andrey Rublev shared what makes Sinner and Alcaraz so invincible on the tour.

They’re very fast, they know how to play at high speed, they take away your time. You haven’t even finished your shot, and the next one is already coming at you. They have a great feel for how to approach the ball, and they can also defend with ease. Both move very well, both have great coordination.

Andrey Rublev told Tennis Bolshoi

Rublev is chasing his second title of the season at the Paris Masters. Earlier this year, he clinched the Qatar Open by defeating Jack Draper. He also reached the Hamburg European Open final but failed to beat Flavio Cobolli. The Russian will next lock horns with Ben Shelton.

Alcaraz crashed out of the Paris Masters with a three-set defeat to Cameron Norrie. Sinner will kick-start his campaign against Zizou Bergs. If Sinner wins the title, he will reclaim his No.1 ranking from the six-time Grand Slam champion. Sinner has never progressed beyond the third round in Paris.

Also read: Alexander Zverev Expresses Dissatisfaction About the New Facilities at the Paris Masters