World number one Carlos Alcaraz says players are misunderstood when they want to play exhibition matches outside the demanding tennis schedule.
Alcaraz, 22, is among those critical of the workload in Asia, where some players are struggling with fitness and the Spaniard said he would consider skipping mandatory fixtures to prioritize his health.
He is the top seed in this week’s lucrative Six Kings Grand Slam in Saudi Arabia, a six-man tournament that will take place from October 15 to 18 and also includes Yannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Prize money for the exhibition is reported to be $4.5 million (£3.4 million), with some players also likely to have received seven-figure bonuses to compete.
The winner could reportedly receive up to $6 million (£4.5 million).
But Alcaraz believes that short-distance events like the Six Kings Slam are not as tough as tour events and therefore have lower demands on players.
He said: “A lot of players talk about the schedule, how intense it is with a lot of games, two weeks of games and then using the exhibition games as an excuse.
“It’s a different format, a different situation compared to official competition, playing exhibition games for 15, 16 days in a row, so focused and physically demanding.
“We just hung out for a day or two and played tennis, which was great and that’s why we chose the exhibition match.
“I see [the criticism]but sometimes people don’t understand us, our perspective. The psychological requirements are actually not high [compared with] When we do events like two weeks or two and a half weeks long. “
Alcaraz won his eighth title of the season in Tokyo last month despite suffering an ankle injury in his opening match that caused him to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters.
Although the injury has not fully healed, he will still go to Saudi Arabia to play football. “Everything is fine,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve been doing everything I can to rehabilitate my ankle.
“I don’t feel 100 percent – the doubts are there when I’m moving around the court, but it’s improved a lot and I’m going to compete and perform well in the Six Kings Slam.”
Alcaraz will bid farewell to the semifinals of the event, which will be shown on Netflix, where he will face either Fritz or Zverev on Thursday.
