Jannik Sinner claimed a commanding victory over rival Carlos Alcaraz to win the lucrative Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sinner, replaced as world number one by Alcaraz following the US Open in September, exacted revenge for his defeat in the New York final with a 6-2 6-4 win.
With his victory, the Italian, 24, earned a reported $6m (£4.5m) – including $4.5m (£3.4m) in prize money, in addition to a $1.5m (£1.1m) participation fee.
While the pair split the four Grand Slam titles between them this season, Sinner was dominant from the outset against Alcaraz, who said his opponent was “just too good” on Saturday.
Sinner broke Alcaraz’s serve in the opening game and swiftly wrapped up the first set, with the Spaniard unable to gain a foothold against his opponent’s clinical serving.
He would go on to win the exhibition event for the second consecutive year after making the decisive breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set.
“I wish I could play like this everywhere,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.
“This season we played many, many times and I also lost many times to Carlos. It is a huge pleasure and honour to share the court with him.
“At the same time, you want to get better as a player and you need rivalries in the sport. So it’s nice to have a great rivalry and more importantly a great friendship off the court.
“We have a very special friendship and it’s very nice.”
ix of the world’s top men’s players competed at the three-day exhibition event in Saudi Arabia, which was streamed on Netflix.
Saudi Arabia has been accused of using its investment in sports and high-profile events to improve its image – known as ‘sportswashing’ – amid criticism over its human rights record.
As an exhibition event, the results in Riyadh do not count towards the ATP rankings or in official head-to-head records.
Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets to reach the final and Sinner overpowered joint-record 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who withdrew from his third-place play-off after losing the first set against Fritz earlier on Saturday.
Together, Sinner and Alcaraz have won nine of the sport’s past 10 majors and met in each of the last three slam finals in the early years of a burgeoning rivalry which has gripped the sport.
“When Jannik is playing at this level it is always difficult, today he was just too good,” Alcaraz said.
“I always say when he plays such great tennis it gives me motivation to go to the practice court, give 100% and try to be better. Sometimes he is annoying, but he gives me extra motivation.”
On their relationship away from the court, Alcaraz added: “A few times I wrote to him just to see how he’s going or to congratulate him. We have a special relationship off the court, which is great.
“People think when two tennis players are competing for great things, giving their best on the court, they cannot have a great friendship off the court and I think we [have seen] it’s possible.”
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