Six Kings Slam live: Novak Djokovic vs Janic Sinner scores and updates on Saudi Arabia blockbuster show on Netflix

On the first day in Riyadh, we saw the advance of Siner and Taylor Fritz with victory over Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.

Yesterday, Siner was enjoying himself during his quarter-final win over Stephanos Tsitsipas. This is just one of the remarkable shots he hit

Today’s clash between Sinner and Djokovic should be intriguing, but the Italian actually has an impressive recent record against his legendary opponent.

Ganekar has won his last two matches against Djokovic – not including last year’s six Kings Slam semi-finals, which do not count as official head-to-head records.

Sinner has also won six of his last seven competitive matches with Djokovic since losing to him in the 2023 Wimbledon semifinals. They have met twice so far this season, with Sinner winning the French Open and Wimbledon semifinals.

Djokovic had the upper hand early in his sinful career, winning their first three matches (including two clashes at Wimbledon), but the young man has been dominant of late.

After reaching the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters last week, Novak Djokovic returns to action today at the Six Kings Slam.

Djokovic struggled physically during the week in Shanghai and was stunned by world number 204 and eventual champion Valentin Wachroot in the semi-finals.

Having reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this season, losing only to Carlos Alcaraz or Janic Sinner, Djokovic is determined to prove himself against his younger rivals this week, and today’s match against Sinner is a great test.

But his fitness will be a concern after battling the heat and humidity in Shanghai, where his body was different at the business end of the tournament.

At a time when the annual debate about what to do about a packed and relentless tennis calendar is once again swirling, with a $6 million check for the fringe champion, there always seems to be a little room for more competition.

Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Janic Sinner are among the players as the Six Kings Slam returns to Saudi Arabia for its second year, with the three-day exhibition in Riyadh offering the winner $1 million more than Alcaraz received at the US Open last month, the largest prize pool in Grand Slam history.

Read Jamie Braidwood’s full analysis of the situation:

Janic Sinner was left confused after a fan stormed the Six Kings Slam court to demand his coat before a security guard intervened.

As the Italian left the Saudi court after his convincing victory over Stephanos Tsitsipas, a fan approached him and pointed to his Nike jacket, apparently as a souvenir.

However, Sinner was confused and reluctant to offer her top as a gift, and a security guard was then seen dragging the supporter away before the tennis star picked up her bag and left the court.

Sinner beat Alcaraz in last year’s Six Kings Slam final and also beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

The Italian took home the $6 million prize amid a dominant late-season run that included back-to-back US Open and ATP Finals titles.

He returns as the defending champion after retiring from his third-round match at the Shanghai Open after struggling physically.

The Wimbledon champion lost to Alcaraz in the US Open final – and could face the Spaniard for the first time since New York in Riyadh.

He will have to get past Djokovic again, but the Italian looked fresh in his dominant opening win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz also spoke about the Six Kings Slam in general, stressing that players are misunderstood when it comes to criticizing exhibition matches.

The Spaniard was among those to criticize the tough tour schedule in Asia, where a number of players struggled physically, and the world No.1 said he was skipping mandatory events to prioritize his health.

So the Spaniard understands why eyebrows have been raised over the Six Kings Slam, but he believes the critics are well aware.

“I think that’s an issue that a lot of players and a lot of people talk about with the calendar, how tight it is with tournaments and two-week tournaments and then I’m going to say they make excuses with exhibitions, how players complain about the calendar and then they have a few exhibitions,” he said.

Carlos Alcaraz is in today’s other semifinal against Taylor Fritz, but he has injury concerns ahead of the match.

The six-time Grand Slam champion has not played since winning the Japan Open last month and missed the Shanghai Masters due to an ankle injury he picked up in his opening match in Tokyo.

And he has admitted that he is not quite ready yet.

“I’ve been healing the ankle as much as I can,” Alcaraz said. I don’t think, I can say, 100 percent, there is doubt that I think about it a little bit when I move in court.

But I think it got a lot better and I want to compete here at the Six Kings Slam and do well.

Sinner will face Djokovic in an intriguing semi-final, and the Italian will not take the opportunity to play in a big match.

“It’s a great honor to play against a legend like Novak again,” Sinner said. We need competition in sports.

It’s great that he’s still playing here at the highest level of our sport.

“He’s still hungry to win big titles and that’s why he’s still playing. I hope it’s interesting.”