Thanks to the Saudis Zverev collects 1.5 million for 59-minute appearance
It's only a show tournament, but this defeat must hurt Alexander Zverev. The German tennis star missed a chance for a much-needed sense of achievement - and the big jackpot.
16.10.2025, 11:43
dpa
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- Alexander Zverev loses to Taylor Fritz in just 59 minutes at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia.
- The Hamburg native can console himself with an entry fee of 1.5 million US dollars.
- There are no world ranking points to be won at the Six Kings Slam.
Tennis star Alexander Zverev has added to the worries about his current form crisis with another defeat against fearful opponent Taylor Fritz. The world number three lost 3:6, 4:6 to Fritz in just 59 minutes in the first round of the financially lucrative and top-class show tournament Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia.
It was Zverev's seventh defeat in a row against the American and also his early exit in Riyadh. The Hamburg native can console himself with an appearance fee of 1.5 million US dollars, and if he had won the second edition of the tournament, he could have collected an additional 4.5 million euros.
Zverev trails early on
Fritz remains in the running for the big jackpot; the 27-year-old will meet world number one Carlos Alcaraz from Spain in the semi-finals on Thursday. Italy's tennis star Jannik Sinner then beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6:2, 6:3. The world number 2 will face Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic from Serbia in the final round.
Zverev, who had failed early in each of his last ATP tournaments, made a weak start to the match and lost his first service game. That was enough for Fritz to win the first set after less than half an hour. Zverev also conceded a quick break in the second set to go 1:2 down, which he was unable to make up.
And how did he fare physically? At 1:3 in the first set, Zverev grabbed his back, his face contorted with pain. The 2021 Olympic champion has been plagued by back problems for months, and even a course of injections only helped to a limited extent.
A lot of money - but also a lot of criticism
There are no world ranking points, no major titles and no prestige to be won at the Six Kings Slam - but an incredible amount of money, even for the six top stars invited. The winner receives six million US dollars for a maximum of three matches and therefore more money than if they win one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. The matches are broadcast by streaming giant Netflix, so there are also new marketing opportunities.
"There's a lot of money, but no points and no respect from the tennis scene," said German tennis icon Boris Becker in a joint podcast with Andrea Petkovic. For other critics, the tennis tournament is part of what is known as sportswashing, with which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wants to distract attention from its human rights violations and improve its image.
