Six Kings Slam offers double Wimbledon's prize money as Rafael Nadal guaranteed millions - The Mirror

Rafael Nadal has travelled to Saudi Arabia alongside five other big names knowing he could pocket £4.6m by winning two matches in exhibition that offers biggest prize in tennis history

Retiring Rafael Nadal is in line for a £4.6million pay out if he can win just two matches this week as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund sinks its tentacles deeper into tennis with an exhibition that carries the biggest prize purse in the sport's history.

The Six Kings Slam gets underway in Riyadh on Wednesday with Nadal, the 22-time grand slam winner who is calling an end to one of the game's greatest careers next month, joining Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune in a three-day event.

The winner will make double the amount that goes to the Wimbledon champion.

While the ATP will not grant any ranking points because it is an unsanctioned event, the six players will be guaranteed £1.15m for merely turning up and Nadal and Djokovic have been given byes directly into the semi-finals.

World No1 Sinner takes on Medvedev today before Alcaraz meets Rune with the former taking on Djokovic and the latter Nadal in semi-finals.

The Spain superstar, 38, has confirmed he will hang up his racket after playing in next month's Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.

"I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis,” the King of Clay said in a video announcing his retirement.

"The reality is that it has been some difficult years, the last two especially. I don't think I have been able to play without limitations."

Nadal, who has not played since teaming up with Alcaraz in the doubles at the Paris Olympics, signed a multi-million pound deal to become an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation earlier this year and PIF have agreed partnerships with both the ATP and WTA.

Riyadh is also set to host the WTA Finals, the season-ending championships for which Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are among the players who have already qualified.

This week's exhibition is part of the Riyadh Season programme that also featured Daniel Dubois' heavyweight defeat of Anthony Joshua at Wembley in September.

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