Jannik Sinner eliminates Daniil Medvedev at Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event for a half-dozen men that awards money but no ATP ranking points and is Saudi Arabia’s latest foray into tennis.

Riyadh will host the WTA Finals next month to open a three-year deal as the kingdom continues to invest in various sports, despite concerns about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights there raised by Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and others.

Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to play Holger Rune in Wednesday’s other match at the Six Kings Slam.

On Thursday, the top-ranked Sinner — who was cleared in a doping case shortly before winning the U.S. Open last month, although the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that exoneration — will take on Novak Djokovic, and Alcaraz or Rune will face Rafael Nadal.

That will be the first match for Nadal since his exit at the Paris Olympics in July — and his first match since he announced last week that he would be retiring after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup next month.

He is an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.

After a day off for everyone on Friday, the winners of Thursday’s two matches will meet in the event’s final on Saturday.

Nadal, 38, owns 22 Grand Slam titles; Djokovic, 37, has won 24, a record for the Open era. They were given byes into the semifinals in Riyadh.

Sinner won his first two Grand Slam trophies in 2024, and Alcaraz collected the two other men’s majors this season to raise his career total to four. Medvedev won the 2021 U.S. Open.

Rune is the only member of the six-player field without a major championship and the only one who hasn’t been ranked No. 1.