"Completely unnatural, it just looked weird" - Andy Roddick denounces Six Kings Slam, says it lacks the 'charm' of Roger Federer-backed Laver Cup

Andy Roddick criticized the recently concluded Six Kings Slam, stating that it lacked the "charm" of Roger Federer-backed Laver Cup. The exhibition tournament took place on October 16-19 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Six Kings Slam featured six players: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. Alcaraz and Sinner faced off in the final, while Djokovic and Nadal competed for third place.

In the final, the World No.1 triumphed over the Spaniard with a score of 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 and claimed the million prize purse whereas, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the third-place match with a score of 6-2, 7-6(5).

During a recent episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, Roddick expressed his opinion on the Six Kings Slam, stating that while he respects the players' decisions to participate in exhibition events, he found the tournament to be "unnatural" and "weird."

“In all seriousness, I never begrudge anyone their choices. Listen, someone's going to pay you that amount of money and you have to go do awkward dancing. The whole thing looked completely unnatural. It just looked weird.” [19:47].

The former US Open champion also mentioned that the exhibition tournament in Riyadh did not capture his interest, even with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal facing off for what could be the last time before the 22-time Grand Slam champion retirement. Roddick mentioned that the Six Kings Slam lacked the "charm" of Roger Federer-backed Laver Cup.

“I had no interest in it. Even the Novak and Rafa thing, I don’t know, it felt fine, felt like an exhibition but without the charm of a Laver Cup where you’re seeing the interactions between players and the legends get brought back,” he added [20:01].

Andy Roddick stated that whether one enjoys these tournaments or not, exhibitions with "oversized budgets" are becoming a permanent fixture in the tennis world.

“For better or worse we’re gonna see more of these types of things, these exho’s outsized budgets. It’s easier to pay [Jannik] Sinner $6 million when you’re not responsible for 122 other players at a given event, plus doubles, plus X, Y& Z. It’s one court, it’s not a million courts, it's no expenses and it’s a marketing budget for a government,” Andy Roddick said [20:15].

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Andy Roddick previously criticized Roger Federer-backed Laver Cup: "Europe vs the World, it felt very artificial"

Andy Roddick speaking to the press [Source: Getty]

In another episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, Roddick revealed that he was previously skeptical towards the concept of the Roger Federer-backed Laver Cup.

The former World No.1 expressed that the concept of Team World and Team Europe felt very "artificial" to him.

"I was not an early believer (in the Laver Cup). I held on to Davis Cup and I was just like, 'this isn't it'. The reasons, Europe vs the World, it felt very artificial," Andy Roddick said (at 5:55).

This year marked the seventh edition of the Laver Cup. The tournament was held in Berlin and Team World, captained by John McEnroe was aiming to win their third consecutive title. However, Team Europe, fueled by the heroics of Carlos Alcaraz emerged victorious with a score of 13-11 to claim their fifth Laver Cup title.