Stan Wawrinka seemingly scoffs at Jannik Sinner's "not for money" explanation for playing $6 million-bounty Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia

Stan Wawrinka reacted to Jannik Sinner for saying that he didn't play for money after his latest stint at the inaugural Six King Slam in Riyadh. The Italian bagged $6 million for winning the exhibition event.

Sinner kicked off his Six Kings Slam by decimating Daniil Medvedev following which he ousted Novak Djokovic in a topsy-turvy three-set thriller to set a mammoth clash with his rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

While a minimum of $1.5 million was guaranteed to the players just for participating, the Italian and the Spaniard went head-to-head for a whopping prize of $6 million in the final with the World No. 1 prevailing by coming back from a set down. Interestingly, this prize money is more than what a player would receive after winning any of the four Majors.

The 23-year-old sat down for an interview with Eurosport after his win in Riyadh, and was asked about his payday.

Jannik Sinner said that money didn't play a part in his decision to compete in the Six Kings Slam but it was rather the opportunity to share the court with the best players in the world that excited him. The tournament also featured Holger Rune and Rafael Nadal, both fell to Alcaraz. Sinner said,

"No, it's, I don't play for money. It's very simple. Of course, it's a nice prize and everything but it's… For me, I went there because there were possibly the six best players in the world and then you can measure yourself with them. And also a nice event for me. It was the first time that I went to Riyadh. It was for something very nice. Of course, when you come back as a winner, for me, it was more that, okay, I played the matches in the right way, and this hopefully can improve me as a player also for the future. I think that's it."

He added,

"And of course, the money is important but not that much. I live a good life also without this money. So, I think it's much more important, the health I have and surrounding myself with great people and the family I have than the money, it's just an extra."

Following this, Stan Wawrinka took to X (formerly Twitter) and left a laughing emoji under this clip to seemingly scoff at the Italian's comments.

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Jannik Sinner will be the top seed at the Paris Masters 2024; Stan Wawrinka will next compete at the Slovak Open

Jannik Sinner (Source: Getty)

Jannik Sinner, who has been having the best season of his career, will headline the final Masters 1000 event of the year, the Paris Masters, as the top seed. He will receive a bye in the first round, following which he will face Ben Shelton or a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

He will be in the top half of the draw which will feature third seed Alexander Zverev, sixth seed Andrey Rublev, 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, and others. He spoke about the challenge the draw will present, during a pre-tournament press conference.

Jannik Sinner has also qualified for the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals.

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Stan Wawrinka will play Maximilian Marterer in the opening round of the Slovak Open, a Challenger event. This will be the first meeting between the two men.

The tournament also features Kei Nishikori, Roman Safiullin, Marton Fucsovics, and others.

Wawrinka shared with a tennis insider this week that he will be continuing his tennis career in 2025.