The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event that was due to take place at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has been postponed for a month.
Reuters said the event, which was due to start on October 21, had been in serious doubt since Yemen’s Houthi movement recently launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a missile strike on Riyadh’s airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The third edition of the Six Kings Slam event had been due to feature Grand Slam champions Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.
The three-day tournament, which was won by Italy’s Jannik Sinner last year, has now been postponed until 27-30 December.
Six Kings Slam organisers said, “The decision [to postpone] reflects Riyadh Season’s commitment to delivering sporting events to the highest standards, following an assessment of the organizational and logistical challenges associated with hosting the tournament and their potential impact on the quality of the audience experience.”
The 8,000-capacity ANB Arena is an indoor, multi-purpose entertainment and sporting venue in the Hittin district of north Riyadh.
Originally branded The Venue, the purpose-built arena was developed for Riyadh Season and subsequently renamed following a naming-rights agreement with Arab National Bank (ANB).
Located approximately 31km from King Khalid International Airport, the venue features a configurable indoor bowl and hosts tennis exhibitions, major boxing events and Riyadh Season entertainment shows.
Sporting calendar disrupted
Other future sporting events could also be affected by the regional conflict, including Formula 1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The FIFAe Finals have also been postponed. The event was scheduled to take place in Jeddah from October 16–25, but no new dates have been confirmed.
In football, the Saudi Pro League fixture between Al-Riyadh and Al-Hilal, along with Al-Ittihad against Al-Shabab in Jeddah, has also been pushed back until December.
Al-Nassr’s trip to Al-Ahli, also based in Jeddah, has been moved to March.
The league cited “logistical considerations” for rescheduling the matches.
The WBC super-middleweight title boxing match in Riyadh between Canelo Álvarez and Christian Mbilli, scheduled for October 31 in Riyadh, remains on the calendar.
In motorsport, uncertainty had already led to significant changes. Formula 1 canceled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix in March because of the war with Iran, while the races in Qatar, scheduled for November 27–29, and Abu Dhabi, set for December 4–6, remain on the calendar for now.
In golf, the Asian Tour’s season-ending PIF Saudi International, scheduled to take place at Riyadh Golf Club from November 18–21, has now been postponed indefinitely, according to Reuters.
The postponement is another indication of the impact the regional security situation is having on Saudi Arabia’s international sporting programme.
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