The soulless spectacle of the Six Kings Slam

All the money in the world can’t buy you an enjoyable tennis exho. Plus, the ripple effects of Holger Rune's injury.

The Replay

Searching for something to care about at SKS

Here’s the thing about exhibitions: If you want us viewers to feel invested in an event that has no bearing on players’ official head-to-head then the players have to seem invested in it themselves. Why bother watching otherwise, when there are actual high-stakes tennis matches taking place elsewhere at the same time? This year’s Six Kings Slam did not check that pretty simple box, with only Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz seeming to treat the matches as they would any other. (Okay, to his credit, Stefanos Tsitsipas seemed to care, too, but he was dead on arrival in his current form against Sinner, removing any possible intrigue from the match.) Sinner and Fritz showed up as the died-in-the-wool competitors that they are with shit they wanted to prove, regardless of it being an exhibition. Conversely, Alexander Zverev showed up half-asleep and Carlos Alcaraz seemed lost, with “I’m just happy to be here” energy that didn’t translate on court. And don’t get me started on Novak Djokovic (JK, I will start on him later).

Of course, the first and most obviously icky element of this event is that it’s a blatant vehicle for sportswashing—a bunch of top commentators and athletes being paid to help Saudi Arabia refashion its image in the eyes of Westerners, conveniently ignoring the country’s deep history of human rights abuses. It requires everyone involved, including us viewers, to temporarily put on our blinders and pretend Riyadh really is just a magical land of glittery skyscrapers and luxury shopping. I know many tennis fans who understandably protest the event for that reason alone.

But even if you manage to look past that for a few days (and by the way, I don’t think it’s a reflection of your morals if you do—the world is deeply fucked up, watching tennis can be a salve), the event is an absolute dud. The organizers had both massive oil money and Netflix’s resources and they still managed to put on the least pleasurable tennis viewing experience I’ve ever witnessed. From the brutally awkward and drawn out intro videos (in which the players were asked cringy questions like “Do you want to be the king?”), the Harry Potter-esque light shows, and the horrendous and wobbly camera angles from behind-the-baseline for extremely long stretches of each match, the entire experience was so unappealing I found myself eye-rolling—and grabbing for my phone, where surely I could find something more interesting—for most of the event.

Whatever this is, I don’t want it.

Each match was like a sedative, slowly willing me to sleep, until we finally got something good in Djokovic vs. Fritz. Despite the fact that it was an exhibition, both players were locked in, and certainly their lopsided H2H had to do with that. The 75 minute first set was a tug-of-war between Fritz, hoping to finally break through his Djokovician mental block and get a win off him (regardless of the setting), and Djokovic, fighting hard to deny him that breakdown of scar tissue, which could potentially make it easier for him to win again during a legitimate match. After Fritz clinched the first set in a tiebreak, he roared, but Djokovic—in behavior so stereotypical I had to laugh—couldn’t bear to lose to Fritz, so he unexpectedly retired from the match. Sure, the man seemed a little tired, as he does in all of his matches these days as a 38-year-old, but nothing about how he was playing, or the fact that he dared play in an exhibition in the first place, screamed of real injury. It was simply a lame move, and felt like a way to stick it to Fritz who dared have any satisfaction. Next year, the organizers should make sure whoever shows up is in it for more than just the ego boost of crowds roaring their name, because right now I have less than zero reasons to tune in again.

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Off-Court

The injury heard ‘round the world

This weekend Holger Rune tore his achilles heel while playing in the semi-finals in Stockholm against Ugo Humbert. Up a set and on serve in the second, it happened unexpectedly during a rally—almost out of nowhere, Rune could barely walk and hobbled over to his bench where he burst into tears. My husband, the athlete whisperer, called it right away that is was an achilles issue and unfortunately he was correct. On Instagram this morning, Rune posted:

To put it simply, the outcome couldn’t have been worse, as the proximal part of your achilles tends to be the hardest (and longest) to rehab, per a physio friend. It’s one reason why a player like Jayson Tatum, whose tear was supposedly lower down, was able to get the new Speedbridge Repair surgery and has been able to bounce back faster than his peers like Tyrese Haliburton. Still, Rune is younger than many of the athletes who’ve been derailed by achilles tears and new treatments are making it easier to recover. But, regardless, it’s going to be a long road.

The injury clearly struck a chord with Rune’s fellow players, many of whom used it as an opportunity to speak out about how the conditions of today’s tennis tour are setting them up for injury. Sharing a selection below:

Read more from Fritz here.

Injuries, as Draper said, are going to happen in elite sports, and they happen often. Because of that, it’s pretty rare to see multiple players speak up about another player’s injury, but I suspect that the severity of this one—and the possibility that it could legitimately derail Rune’s young career—resonated more deeply with other players. Every single one of them could be in Rune’s position and that’s a scary thought for any competitive athlete. Many of them have already tasted what it’s like to have an injury set you back for months, if not half a year.

The question now is whether this will serve as a true rallying cry for the players, inspiring them to really band together and try to change what they can, or if it’s a momentary acknowledgement of shitty conditions that they’ll continue to accept. Of course, it could also inspire the various organizations that set the terms of the tour, but I’m not holding my breath for that. Unfortunately, I do think it will take a big statement—perhaps even a protest—from top players to result in any change.

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Thanks for reading! If you have tennis news or tips to share, email jessica@hard-court.com.