Darren Cahill has stepped in after Jannik Sinner caused a stir with his comments about the lucrative Six Kings Slam.
The world No. 1 banked £4.6million in prize money for winning the Saudi Arabian exhibition tournament last month.
He later said he didn’t “play for the money”, receiving backlash. And his coach has now cleared things up.
Sinner was one of six high-profile players competing in last month’s Saudi exhibition. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune also made up the field.
The world No. 1 came out on top, beating Medvedev, Djokovic then Alcaraz to lift the trophy in Riyadh. While his competitors received £1.15m for playing, Sinner pocketed a staggering £4.6m as the champion.
“I don’t play for money. It’s very simple. Of course it’s a nice prize, but I went there because there was possibly the six best players in the world and you can measure yourself with them. It was also a nice event,” he later told Eurosport.
“Of course the money is important, but not that much. I live a good life also without this money, so it’s much more important the health I have and surrounding myself with great people and the family I have. And the money is just an extra.”
But not everyone believed that Sinner wasn’t motivated by the huge cash prize. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka replied to the Italian’s quotes with a laughing emoji.
Sinner’s coach has now leapt to his defence, explaining that the Italian’s words were taken the wrong way. Cahill told Gazzetta Dello Sport: “What he said about not going to Riyadh for the money was misinterpreted.
“Or maybe he didn’t explain himself well. The truth is that he had never played an exhibition, he has always been focused on improving his tennis. He knows what his priorities are.
“Then he got an offer for the Six Kings Slam, with the six best players in the world and a lot of money. He consulted us and we said why not, and he accepted.”
It was the right choice for Sinner, he got to test himself against some of the world’s best. After losing to Alcaraz in all three tour-level matches they played this year, he beat the Spaniard in the Six Kings Slam final to exact his revenge.
Sinner will now go into the ATP Finals as the top seed and one of the title favourites. It will be his first official tournament since last month’s Shanghai Masters, which he won.
The 23-year-old pulled out of the recent Paris Masters with a virus but he’s already been practicing for the year-end championships in Turin. Sinner has been drawn in the Ilie Nastase group with Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur.
He opens his campaign with a round-robin match against De Minaur on Sunday night.
