Jannik Sinner is set to make his return at the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, according to an announcement on social media from Turki Alalshikh. He has been managing a knee problem that has kept him out since he won Wimbledon earlier this year.
The tournament was originally set for October 21-24 but has been moved to December 27-30 because of unrest in the Middle East. It’s the third edition of an event that pays players £1.2 million to compete and an extra £3.5m to the winner, per TNT Sports.
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur have already signed up. American Learner Tien was due to play in Sinner’s place but will now drop out. Sinner’s return adds more star power and sets up another possible “Sincaraz” meeting for the title. The Italian won the 2024 and 2025 finals against his Spanish rival Alcaraz.
He hasn’t played competitively since the Wimbledon final, when he came from a set down to beat Zverev and win the fifth Grand Slam title of his career. There had been hope he’d play again at the US Open, and if not there, at the ATP Finals in Turin. He couldn’t make it back at Flushing Meadows, where Zverev won his second major of the year, and Sinner then announced that his 2026 season was over.
“Me, together with the doctors, have decided that I need a course of treatment for my knee, which means that the 2026 season is officially over,” Sinner said in a video posted on Instagram.
