RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Jannik Sinner beat fellow young star Carlos Alcaraz, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, for the championship at the Six Kings Slam exhibition Saturday, with their final following a third-place pairing of tennis legends as Novak Djokovic topped Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
While the 23-year-old Sinner and the 21-year-old Alcaraz likely have plenty of future matchups in store, Djokovic, 37, and Nadal, 38, may have been playing one another for the final time in one of the sport’s greatest rivalries of all time.
Djokovic won the match between veterans who have combined for 46 Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal, who won 22 — including a record 14 at the French Open — recently announced that he plans to retire after playing for Spain next month in the Davis Cup finals.
The two shared a warm embrace at the net after Djokovic’s victory. The Serbian star also beat Nadal in the Paris Olympics this past summer and had a 31-29 lead in their head-to-head matches.
“The last dance was an epic one,” Djokovic wrote on social media. “And of course emotional. I’ll cherish our rivalry forever, @rafaelnadal. Tennis will miss you.”
Sinner then emerged with a victory over Alcaraz in a matchup between the winners of all four major men’s singles titles this season. Sinner, the Italian who is ranked No. 1 on the ATP Tour but had lost all three meetings with Alcaraz this season, collected $6 million for the win.
“Until now, every match was very, very good, but we will always hope this rivalry will last as long as possible,” said Sinner, who won both hard-court majors — the Australian Open and the U.S. Open — and reached the semifinals on the red clay of the French Open and the grass of Wimbledon.
Alcaraz beat Sinner on Oct. 2 to win the China Open in Beijing, along with semifinal victories at the French Open and Indian Wells. The Spaniard has a 6-4 lead over Sinner in their head-to-head series on tour.
“I will try to do my best every day … to hopefully make this rivalry better and better over the years,” said Alcaraz, who this year won the French Open for the first time and repeated as Wimbledon champion to double his count of major titles. He won the U.S. Open in 2022 and will go for the career Grand Slam at next year’s Australian Open.
Alcaraz defeated Nadal while Sinner topped Djokovic in the previous round of the Six Kings Slam, which awards money but not tour ranking points. The exhibition is Saudi Arabia’s latest foray into professional tennis.