Remember last season when Jannik Sinner defended his Six Kings Slam triumph, worth $6 million, saying, “I don’t play for money. It’s very simple.” The former world no.1 tried to convey the message that the massive prize money was simply an inevitable part of Netflix’s exhibition event. In his eyes, “The money is important but not that much.” Fast forward to 2025, and it seems like Sinner still abides by what he initially said. Only that his motivation remains slightly altered. The four-time slam champion is back in Riyadh this week for Six Kings Slam’s second edition.

Ahead of his campaign in Riyadh, Sinner engaged in a pre-event press conference. When asked to share his perspective on the lucrative prize money amount involved in the tournament, the 24-year-old Italian didn’t mince words. “The money is nothing we’re trying to hide.” Further, he underlined, “We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation,” as reported by the Associated Press on October 14.

Compared to his opinion from last year, Sinner believes the massive prize money has driven him to compete at the exhibition extravaganza this time. “Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It’s like any other exhibition — except here there is a bit more motivation.”

Following his reaction back in October 2024, fans were left displeased. Most of them thought there was a discrepancy between his words and actions. Many tried to call out the Italian by urging him to instead “give the money to a charity” if he didn’t play for it.

And now that he has, sort of, accepted that money is indeed a “motivation” to play the exhibition event, it will be intriguing to see what reactions the social media comes up with this time around.

Sinner has already kicked off his campaign on a solid note in Riyadh. The defending champion seems all set for a second-straight final.

Jannik Sinner makes a stellar start to defend his Six Kings Slam crown

On Wednesday night, inside the Kingdom Arena, Jannik Sinner began his Six Kings Slam journey with an easy win. Playing against Greek ATP pro Stefanos Tsitsipas, he had no difficulty in snatching the victory. With a scoreline of 6-2, 6-3, the Italian clinched the quarterfinal encounter and advanced into the semifinal stage.

During the post-match conference, losing opponent Tsitsipas gave full credit to Sinner. “I feel like he was a bit higher than me on certain occasions,” reported Arab News on October 16. “He was able to come up with winners in moments that I wasn’t the first.”

Tsitsipas revealed that Sinner “was able to generate a lot more winners and shots that were unreturned, and I wasn’t able to do that as well. I kept working harder and more for my points, and he kept economizing and just worked whenever it was necessary.”

Now that the Italian has cleared the first hurdle, only two steps remain for him to reclaim the trophy. In the next match on Thursday, he will face 24-time slam king Novak Djokovic. When the two met during the 2024 edition, Sinner bested him in a three-set thriller. He defeated him with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.

This week, he will look to replicate that performance once again. On the other hand, Djokovic will try to exact his revenge. The Serbian has lost both his encounters this season against Sinner. The latter outperformed him in Paris, followed by London during the semis. It will be intriguing to see if Djokovic can settle the score in Riyadh.