Follow us on Google Discover The biggest names in tennis earned themselves a big paycheck last time out at the Six Kings Slam.
Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas lost their opening matches in straight sets, but still pocketed $1.5 million each.
Winning the title, Jannik Sinner earned himself $6 million, just as he did 12 months earlier.
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Just one week after the Six Kings Slam finished, Saudi Arabia agreed to host a Masters 1000 event from 2028 onward.
Reacting to the news, tennis legend Andy Roddick weighed in with his thoughts.
Andy Roddick expects ‘chaos’ with appearance fees at non-mandatory Saudi Arabian Masters
During the latest episode of ‘Quick Served’, Roddick gave his verdict on the announcement of the ‘non-mandatory’ tournament.
“This is how I read non-mandatory. If I am a player and if I roll back the clock to when I was one who could command an appearance fee, the protection for the Masters 1000 was that they were mandatory, and you basically opt into the Tour schedule as an independent contractor,” he said.
“The mandatory events basically hold your participation as a negotiating tool, and you have to fall in line with the mandatory things.
“If it’s non-mandatory, that means that you do not have to play it contractually to be a part of the ATP Tour.
“That means appearance fees.”
Roddick thinks the appearance fees will be high, just as they are at the Six Kings Slam.
“These appearance fees are going to be massive. The players have a lot of leverage right now, because there is no chance that Saudi [Arabia] is going to want to have this Masters 1000 and then not have [Jannik] Sinner and [Carlos] Alcaraz show up and not have whoever else show up,” he said.
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“I was texting with an agent friend of ours, and he says it’s open season on appearance fees for this tournament. Non-mandatory to me, they are celebrating that as ‘we are coachable, this is cool, we are going to create a new set of rules’.
“This is going to be chaos, this is going to be the wild west in terms of appearance fees, which is good for the players, I guess.”
Roddick isn’t wrong, as the best players in the men’s game will likely be convinced to play the non-mandatory event with big money on offer.
With prize money increasing at an alarming rate, the likes of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz could break records sooner than expected…
Where do Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz rank in the all-time prize money list?
Both Sinner and Alcaraz sit inside the top ten for all-time prize money earnings on the ATP Tour, and are closing in on the top spots.
RankNameCountryCareer prize moneyStatus1Novak DjokovicSerbia$190,526,213Active2Rafael NadalSpain$134,946,100Retired3Roger FedererSwitzerland$130,594,339Retired4Andy MurrayGreat Britain$64,687,542Retired5Alexander ZverevGermany$54,881,229Active6Carlos AlcarazSpain$53,902,993Active7Jannik SinnerItaly$49,591,462Active8Daniil MedvedevRussia$47,785,184Active9Pete SamprasUSA$43,280,489Retired10Stan WawrinkaSwitzerland$37,693,913ActiveAll-time prize money list (ATP Tour)
Alcaraz has earned over $50 million in his career so far and is projected to reach the top of the rankings barring a drop in form.
With big money likely to be offered up by Saudi Arabia in 2028, Alcaraz and Sinner may surpass the $100 million mark quicker than anyone else in tennis history.
It’s certainly good news for the top 10, but players lower down the rankings might not be quite so pleased with the announcement…
A 56-player draw will limit the big money to the top players
Unlike the majority of the Masters 1000 events on tour, the new event in Saudi Arabia will feature just 56 players in the main draw.
Therefore, fewer players will receive the big prize money on offer.
While the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz have both earned $10 million+ this year, some players struggle to afford the costs involved with playing professionally.
World number 200, Rodrigo Pachecho Mendez, has pocketed less than $250,000 in 2025.
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For a player trying to travel to different tournaments around the world and hire a top-class coaching staff, that’s just not enough.
Perhaps it would make sense to expand the event in Saudi Arabia to allow more players to benefit.
Only time will tell what will happen with the Saudi Arabian Masters 1000 event in the future, but it will certainly be something to look out for.