Carlos Alcaraz and several other top tennis players will take part in financially lucrative exhibition tournament the Six Kings Slam this week
Carlos Alcaraz has defended tennis players who participate in exhibition tournaments, despite grumbles over a packed calendar. The tennis season, which spans 11 months and includes ATP, WTA and ITF’s four grand slam tournaments – the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open – has been a bone of contention for many stars in the game.
The decision to extend many of the nine Masters 1000 events to two weeks from their original seven-day duration, albeit with the exception of Indian Wells and Miami, has only added fuel to the fire. Alcaraz, who is ranked as the world‘s No.1 player, is among several big-names participating in the Six Kings Slam throughout this week alongside Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
And the Spaniard has addressed the issue of players taking part in exhibition events amid widespread criticism of the lengthy tennis campaign. “I think that it’s a discussion that a lot of players and a lot of people are talking about with the calendar, how tight it is with a lot of tournaments and the tournaments of two weeks, and then making some, I’m going to say, excuses with exhibitions, how players are complaining about the calendar and then playing some exhibitions,” he told PA news agency.
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“All I can say is that it’s a really different format, different situation playing exhibitions than the official tournaments, having 15, 16 days in row, having such a high focus and demanding physically.
“That’s why, because we’re just having fun for one or two days and playing some tennis and I think that’s great, and I think that’s why we choose sometimes the exhibitions.
“Obviously I understand [the criticism], but sometimes the people don’t understand us, our opinions. When I see a lot of people complaining about how we are defending the exhibitions, I don’t understand them because, as I said, it’s not really demanding mentally [compared to] when we’re having such long events – like two weeks or two-and-a-half weeks. It’s really tough.”
The 22-year-old has also confessed to travelling to Saudi Arabia despite admitting the injury he picked up in Tokyo last month hasn’t completely healed. He added: “Everything’s okay and I’ve been recovering the ankle as much, and as good, as I can.
“I don’t feel, I would say, 100 per cent, the doubts are there thinking about it a little bit when I’m moving on court, but I think it has improved a lot and I’m going to compete and perform well here in the Six Kings Slam.”
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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
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