The semifinals of the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will be held on Thursday, when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic take the court following byes. They are facing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, respectively.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Rafael Nadal
Nadal will be making his penultimate appearance prior to retirement when he participates in this Six Kings Slam event. The 38-year-old Spaniard recently announced the upcoming end of his tennis career, effective at the end of this season (the Davis Cup Finals will mark his grand finale). Nadal has played sparingly in 2024, unable to entirely overcome hip and abdominal injuries. The 22-time Grand Slam champion’s best result is a runner-up performance in Bastad and his best win is over No. 11 Alex de Minaur in Madrid. He last played at the Paris Olympics, where he fell to Novak Djokovic in the second round and reached the doubles quarterfinals with Carlos Alcaraz.
It is none other than Alcaraz whom Nadal will be facing in Thursday’s semifinals. The second-ranked Spaniard has heated up since the U.S. Open, beating Jannik Sinner for the Beijing title, clinching the Laver Cup for Team Europe, and leading his country to the Davis Cup quarters. Alcaraz advanced in Riyadh on Wednesday night with a 6-4, 6-2 rout of Holger Rune. The 21-year-old trails the head-to-head series with Nadal 2-1 but won their previous exhibition match this year 14-12 in a super-tiebreaker at the Netflix Slam in March. There is a decent chance that Alcaraz actually loses this match on purpose, but there is an even better chance that he lets his compatriot be competitive before turning it up a notch at the very end. The reality, of course, is that Alcaraz can win this match as convincingly as he wants to.
Pick: Alcaraz in 3
Jannik Sinner vs. Novak Djokovic
Sinner and Djokovic faced each other three times last fall and they may be on a similar streak of head-to-head showdowns at the end of 2024. They just squared off in the Shanghai Masters final and now they will meet four days later in the semifinals of the Six Kings Slam exhibition. Sinner punched his ticket to Thursday’s matchup by beating Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 in the opening match of the tournament.
This rivalry began in Djokovic’s favor but has since turned in Sinner’s direction, resulting in a current 4-4 tie. The top-ranked Italian has reeled off four victories in their last five encounters after losing their first three. Obviously anything can happen in a match that doesn’t really matter, but you have to like Sinner’s chances. He is one of the two best players in the world right now along with Carlos Alcaraz and it’s hard to see Djokovic being especially motivated for an exhibition event at this point in the season–or at any point in the season.
Pick: Sinner in 2
