Six players. Three nights. One champion.
And no ATP ranking points.
The Six Kings Slam is one of the most unusual additions to the modern tennis calendar: a lucrative invitational exhibition that brings six leading men’s players to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a short knockout tournament.
First staged in 2024, the event quickly attracted attention through a combination of elite players, enormous prize money and a format designed more like a sporting spectacle than a conventional ATP tournament.
The third edition will be held on October 21, 22 and 24, 2026, at ANB Arena in Riyadh. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur have been announced for the six-player field.
But despite the calibre of the field, the Six Kings Slam is not an ATP Tour tournament.
Here’s how it works.
Quick Answer: What Is the Six Kings Slam?
The Six Kings Slam is an invitational men’s tennis exhibition held in Riyadh as part of Riyadh Season.
It features six players in a knockout competition.
The tournament began in 2024 and returns for its third edition in 2026. Unlike a Grand Slam, Masters 1000 or other ATP tournament, it does not award ATP ranking points, and its results do not form part of official ATP head-to-head records.
The 2026 event will be played on:
October 21 — Opening matches
October 22 — Second night
October 23 — No matches
October 24 — Final night
The draw and individual match schedule had not yet been announced as of September 2026.
Where Is the Six Kings Slam Played?
The tournament is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of Riyadh Season, the city’s large-scale program of sporting and entertainment events.
The 2026 competition will take place at ANB Arena.
The event is played indoors.
That gives the Six Kings Slam a very different atmosphere from many of the outdoor tournaments surrounding it on the professional calendar.
Lighting, presentation and production are a major part of the event’s identity.
It is tennis presented as entertainment as much as traditional tournament competition.
Who Is Playing the Six Kings Slam in 2026?
Six players have been announced:
Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev
Taylor Fritz
Alex de Minaur
De Minaur will make his Six Kings Slam debut, while the other five have previously competed at the event.
Sinner enters the 2026 edition as the only champion in the tournament’s short history.
He won both the inaugural event in 2024 and the second edition in 2025.
How Does the Six Kings Slam Format Work?
The basic concept is extremely simple.
There are only six players, and the tournament uses a knockout format.
There is no round-robin group stage.
Lose, and the player cannot win the title.
With six competitors rather than eight, however, the bracket cannot begin with four conventional quarterfinals.
Previous editions solved this by giving two players byes directly into the semifinals.
The other four players contest two opening-round matches.
That creates the final four:
6 players
↓
4 players contest opening matches
2 players receive byes
↓
4 semifinalists
↓
2 finalists
↓
1 Six Kings Slam champion
The losing semifinalists also contest a third-place match.
The 2026 organisers have confirmed that the event will again use a knockout system and include a match for third and fourth place, although the draw — including who receives the byes — had not yet been announced at the time of writing.
Why Are There Only Six Players?
The small field is the entire concept.
Unlike an ATP tournament attempting to determine a champion from a conventional entry list, the Six Kings Slam is invitational.
The organisers select a small group of high-profile players and build the event around them.
There is therefore no qualifying tournament and no standard ATP entry process.
A player does not earn a place at the Six Kings Slam simply by reaching a particular ranking.
The field is invited.
That distinction separates it from events such as the ATP Finals, where qualification is based on season-long results.
Is the Six Kings Slam an ATP Tournament?
No.
The Six Kings Slam is an exhibition tournament, not an ATP Tour event.
That distinction is crucial.
It may feature some of the world’s highest-ranked players and offer extraordinary prize money, but it does not sit within the normal ATP tournament hierarchy.
It is not a:
Grand Slam
ATP Masters 1000
ATP 500
ATP 250
or ATP Challenger tournament.
For the structure of the men’s professional circuit, see The ATP Tour Explained.
Does the Six Kings Slam Award ATP Ranking Points?
No.
Players receive no ATP ranking points for competing in or winning the Six Kings Slam.
Its matches also do not count towards the players’ official ATP head-to-head records.
That creates an unusual situation.
A player could defeat several leading opponents and win the entire tournament without adding a single point to his ATP ranking.
Likewise, losing at the event does not directly damage a player’s ranking.
Compare that with an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, where the champion earns 1,000 ranking points.
See Tennis Ranking Points Explained and ATP Masters 1000 Explained for more on how official tournaments affect the rankings.
Do Six Kings Slam Matches Count in Head-to-Head Records?
Not in the official ATP head-to-head record.
Because the event is an exhibition, its matches sit outside the players’ official ATP match records.
This is worth remembering when two famous rivals meet in Riyadh.
A Six Kings Slam match may attract enormous attention, but it does not change the official ATP head-to-head statistic in the same way as a match at Wimbledon, the US Open or an ATP Tour tournament.
Why Is There a Rest Day?
One of the strangest features of the Six Kings Slam schedule is the missing day.
In 2026, matches are scheduled for:
Wednesday, October 21
Thursday, October 22
Saturday, October 24
There are no matches scheduled for Friday, October 23.
The same pattern occurred in the first two editions.
The reason is connected to ATP rules governing participation in exhibitions, which prevent players from competing in exhibition matches on three consecutive days. The tournament therefore inserts a rest day before its final night.
It creates the distinctive:
play → play → rest → play
structure.
What Is the Six Kings Slam Prize Money?
This is one of the biggest reasons the event attracted worldwide attention.
At the inaugural 2024 Six Kings Slam, reports stated that every participant was guaranteed US$1.5 million, while the champion received US$6 million in total.
The same $1.5 million participation payment and $6 million champion’s total were reported for the 2025 edition.
That meant the champion’s payday substantially exceeded the winner’s prize at any of the four Grand Slams at the time.
The 2026 prize-money structure has not yet been officially confirmed in the sources available at the time of writing, but is believed to be the same.
Who Won the First Six Kings Slam?
Jannik Sinner won the inaugural Six Kings Slam in 2024.
The original field consisted of:
Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Daniil Medvedev
Holger Rune
Sinner defeated Medvedev in his opening match before beating Djokovic in the semifinal.
He then defeated Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
Djokovic defeated Nadal in the third-place match.
That meeting became particularly notable because it proved to be the final match between the two great rivals.
Who Won the Six Kings Slam in 2025?
Sinner successfully defended his title in 2025.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe field was:
Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev
Taylor Fritz
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas entered after the originally announced Jack Draper withdrew because of injury.
Sinner defeated Tsitsipas in the opening round and Djokovic in the semifinal before facing Alcaraz again in the final.
This time he won 6-2, 6-4, becoming the tournament’s first two-time champion.
Taylor Fritz finished third.
Six Kings Slam Champions
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Final score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jannik Sinner | Carlos Alcaraz | 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2025 | Jannik Sinner | Carlos Alcaraz | 6-2, 6-4 |
| 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Why Is It Called the Six Kings Slam?
The name reflects the concept rather than an official tournament classification.
There are six invited stars — the “Six Kings” — competing for one title.
Is the Six Kings Slam a Grand Slam?
No.
The word “Slam” in its name can understandably cause confusion, but the Six Kings Slam has no Grand Slam status.
It is an exhibition event.
The difference is enormous.
A Grand Slam singles tournament features a 128-player main draw and awards 2,000 ranking points to the champion.
The Six Kings Slam features six invited players and awards no ATP ranking points.
Its importance comes from its players, presentation and financial scale rather than official status within the professional ranking structure.
In professional tennis, the four recognised Grand Slam tournaments are:
Australian Open
Roland Garros
Wimbledon
US Open
The Six Kings Slam definitely does not form part of that group.
For more on the sport’s four majors, see Grand Slams Explained.
Embed from Getty ImagesIs the Six Kings Slam Part of Riyadh Season?
Yes.
The tournament is staged as part of Riyadh Season, Saudi Arabia’s annual program of entertainment, cultural and sporting events.
That context helps explain why the Six Kings Slam looks and feels different from a conventional ATP tournament.
It is designed as a major entertainment event built around tennis rather than another stop on the ATP Tour.
When Did the Six Kings Slam Start?
The first Six Kings Slam was held in October 2024.
It returned in 2025 and the 2026 edition will therefore be the third consecutive staging of the tournament.
That makes it one of the youngest high-profile events in international tennis.
Its history is tiny compared with tournaments such as Wimbledon or the US Open, but the calibre of its fields and prize money have ensured significant attention from the beginning.
How Is the Six Kings Slam Different From the Laver Cup?
Both are high-profile events that sit outside the conventional ATP tournament structure, but their formats are completely different.
The Laver Cup is a team competition.
Six players represent Team Europe and six represent Team World, with singles and doubles matches contributing points towards the team score.
The Six Kings Slam is an individual knockout event.
There are no teams.
Every player is competing for himself.
The Six Kings Slam also has only six competitors in total.
For the complete format, see Laver Cup Explained
Six Kings Slam vs ATP Finals
These two events should not be confused either.
The ATP Finals is an official ATP championship.
Players qualify primarily through their season-long results and the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. The singles competition features eight players divided into round-robin groups before progressing to the semifinals.
The Six Kings Slam has six invited players and a knockout structure.
Most importantly:
ATP Finals → official ranking event
Six Kings Slam → exhibition
The distinction affects qualification, ranking points, records and the tournament’s place within professional tennis.
We will cover the season-ending championship separately in ATP Finals Explained
Why Do Top Players Compete?
The financial incentives are obvious.
The event has offered some of the largest individual payouts in tennis.
But there are other attractions.
It is short.
There is no week-long progression through a conventional 32, 48, 64 or 96-player draw.
Players face elite opposition in a highly produced arena environment, and the tournament has rapidly developed significant global visibility.
The combination of money, limited matches and a high-profile field makes it very different from adding another conventional tournament to a player’s schedule.
That has also generated debate because leading players have simultaneously raised concerns about the length and physical demands of the professional calendar.
Carlos Alcaraz defended his participation in the 2025 event by arguing that exhibitions were less physically and mentally demanding than official Tour competition.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhere Can You Watch the Six Kings Slam in 2026?
The 2026 Six Kings Slam will stream live globally on Netflix.
Netflix says the event will be available to subscribers at no additional cost.
This continues the relationship established in 2025, when Netflix streamed the Six Kings Slam live for the first time.
The 2026 draw, match allocation and start times had not yet been announced at the time of writing.
Six Kings Slam 2026 at a Glance
Dates: October 21, 22 and 24, 2026
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Venue: ANB Arena
Surface: Indoor hard court
Players: 6
Format: Knockout
Ranking points: None
Official ATP event: No
Defending champion: Jannik Sinner
2026 field: Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur
Broadcast: Netflix worldwide
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Six Kings Slam an official ATP tournament?
No. The Six Kings Slam is an exhibition event rather than part of the ATP Tour. Players do not earn ATP ranking points from their results at the tournament.
Do Six Kings Slam matches count towards official head-to-head records?
No. Because the Six Kings Slam is an exhibition, its matches are not included in official ATP head-to-head records. You may see unofficial statistics that include them, but ATP records do not.
Why is it called the Six Kings Slam?
The name reflects the tournament’s format: six leading men’s players are invited to compete in a small, high-profile field. Despite the word “Slam” in its name, it is not a Grand Slam tournament.
How are players chosen for the Six Kings Slam?
There is no ATP qualification system or ranking cut-off that automatically determines the field. Players are invited by the event organisers, allowing the tournament to assemble a field built around some of the biggest names in men’s tennis.
Is the Six Kings Slam played every year?
The event debuted in Riyadh in 2024 and returned in 2025, with another edition scheduled for 2026. It is therefore becoming an annual event, although it does not have the same permanent place on the official ATP calendar as regular tour tournaments.
Why don’t players receive ATP ranking points?
ATP ranking points are awarded at sanctioned events on the official tour structure. The Six Kings Slam operates as an exhibition, so its considerable prize money and high-profile field do not translate into ranking points.
Is the Six Kings Slam the richest tennis tournament in the world?
It depends on what is being compared. The event has offered extraordinary prize money for such a small field, but comparisons with Grand Slams and other tournaments can be misleading because those events distribute prize money across much larger singles and doubles draws. It is more accurate to describe the Six Kings Slam as one of the most lucrative individual opportunities in professional tennis.
Final Thoughts
The Six Kings Slam occupies an unusual place in modern tennis.
It isn’t a Grand Slam.
It isn’t an ATP tournament.
There are no ranking points, no qualifying draw and no traditional route into the field.
Instead, six invited stars meet in Riyadh for a short knockout competition built around elite matchups, enormous financial rewards and global entertainment.
That makes the event fundamentally different from almost everything surrounding it on the tennis calendar.
And in 2026, the story becomes particularly simple.
Six players arrive in Riyadh.
Jannik Sinner has won both previous editions.
Five players are trying to become the first man to take his crown.
Continue Reading
- Laver Cup Explained
- The ATP Tour Explained
- Grand Slams Explained
- ATP Masters 1000 Explained
- Tennis Ranking Points Explained
- Tennis Prize Money Explained
- ATP Finals Explained
Read more of our exclusive feature articles here.
Read more of our player focus articles here.
Follow The Tennis Site on X: @thetennissite
Follow Todd Scoullar on X: @toddscoullar
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.