Stanislas Wawrinka may not be taking Jannik Sinner at his word after the Italian claimed he didn’t play at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia for the money. Sinner was handed £4.6million for winning the tournament after getting the better of Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Sinner, who won this year’s Australian Open and US Open, was forced to come from a set down to overcome Alcaraz in Riyadh.

The world No. 1 won the showdown 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 after getting the better of Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

Sinner was asked about his Saudi prize money during an interview with Eurosport. And he explained: “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.

“For me it was the first time that I went to Riyadh. It was something very nice and of course when you come back as a winner for me it was more that I played the matches in the right way and that this can hopefully improve me as a player also for the future. I think that’s it.

“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 after footage of the interview was posted to X (formerly Twitter), Wawrinka replied with a laughing face emoji in a hint that the comments were unbelievable.

Sinner’s payday in the Middle East is almost the same amount of prize money he has won throughout the rest of 2024, with his total pot for the year now standing at around £9.25m.

The 23-year-old was handed £1.6m for winning the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne and earnt almost 2.8m for winning the final Major in New York. He also topped up the kitty by reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.

The French Open and Wimbledon were both won by world No. 2 Alcaraz. And discussing his rivalry with the Spaniard, Sinner added: “I always say, there is not only me and Carlos, you know, it’s very difficult to say that me and Carlos and that’s it.”

“Of course, Carlos is until now one of my rivals, but there are so many other players and you have to be prepared and mentally ready and physically ready to play.”