The Six Kings tennis tournament featuring the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in Saudi Arabia has been postponed due to the recent attacks on Riyadh.
The exhibition event, where the world's top men's players were due to compete, was scheduled to take place from October 21-24 and shown live on Netflix.
But the continuing attacks on Riyadh's airports by Iran-backed Houthi rebels has resulted in the Six Kings Slam – held at the ANB Arena which is around 30km away from the King Khalid International Airport – being pushed back until December 27-30.
The other players due to take part were Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur and Learner Tien.
“The decision reflects Riyadh Season's commitment to delivering sporting events to the highest standards, following an assessment of the organisational and logistical challenges associated with hosting the tournament and their potential impact on the quality of the audience experience,” organisers said in a statement.
The tournament, which is in its third edition and awards £1.2 million per player and an extra £3.5m for the winner, was previously won by Jannik Sinner with the Italian beating Alcaraz in the final on both occasions.
The decision comes in the same week that three Saudi Pro League fixtures were postponed due to “logistical considerations” after Al Hilal and Nassr, who are based in Riyadh, and the Jeddah teams Ahli and Al Ittihad, were all involved in AFC Champions League matches.
Al Nassr's match against Uzbek side Neftchi Fergan – which saw Cristiano Ronaldo score in a 3-1 victory for Ange Postecoglou's side – on Monday was delayed due to a security alert issued by Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence. The match kicked off 20 minutes after it was scheduled to start.
On Tuesday, golf's Asian Tour said that it is monitoring the security situation ahead of the Saudi International due to take place in Riyadh from November 18 to 21.
“Any changes to the schedule will be announced as soon as we have determined the right course of action for our players, fans and partners,” the Asian Tour told Reuters in a statement.
“The PIF Saudi International is incredibly important to the Asian Tour as our season finale, however the safety of our players, staff and service teams is always our number one priority.”
