Rafael Nadal will begin his retirement preparations with a match against Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the 6th Kings Slam. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic will meet Jannik Sinner in the remaining semi-final just a few days after the Shanghai Masters final.
The 6 Kings Slam events are purely exhibition events, awarding cash prizes but no ATP ranking points. This is one of Saudi Arabia's efforts to break into tennis.
In addition to the 6 Kings Slams, Riyadh will also host the WTA Finals event next November, starting a 3-year deal, as Saudi Arabia continues to invest in various sports.
In the quarter-final matches taking place in the early morning of October 17 (Vietnam time), world number 1 tennis player, Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev with a fairly large score difference of 2 sets - 6-0, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz defeated Holger Rune in just two sets, with a score of 6-4, 6-2. Rune is the only player among the six participants who has never won a Grand Slam title.
Nadal, an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation, and Djokovic were given wildcards into the semi-finals.
The match against Alcaraz will be Nadal's first match since the Paris Olympics in July - where he played doubles with his fellow Spaniard.
It was also Rafa's first match since announcing last week that he would retire after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup finals next month.
Nadal and Alcaraz could team up again at the Davis Cup.
Looking ahead to the match in the early morning of October 18, Alcaraz called Nadal a "legend" and "a really important person for my life, for my career".
As for the Djokovic - Sinner pair, they faced off last Sunday with the Italian player winning to win the Shanghai Masters title.
After a day off on Friday (October 18), the two semi-final winners will meet in the final on Saturday.
Nadal, 38, has 22 Grand Slam titles; Djokovic, 37, holds the men's record with 24 Grand Slams.
Sinner won his first two Grand Slams in 2024, while Alcaraz has four, including two this year. Medvedev is the 2021 US Open champion.
