Retired tennis great Andy Murray wasn’t about to let Liam Broady’s involvement in a controversial Saudi Arabian tennis tournament go unchecked.
Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Rafael Nadal descended on Riyadh for the inaugural Six Kings Slam this week.
Although players are unable to gain any ranking points given it is not an ATP-sanctioned event, all six will be handsomely compensated for the exhibition and will receive a minimum payday of $1.5million (£1.15m).
As for the winner, they’ll earn a cool $6m (£4.6m), the largest financial prize in tennis history and nearly double the amount on offer for winning a grand slam.
Broady did not score an invite to play in Riyadh but he will still be a part of the action in Saudi Arabia after he was revealed as a pundit for Sky Sports’ coverage of the event.
The 30-year-old will analyse the action alongside former Wimbledon winner Pat Cash plus commentary duo Adam Fielder and Gigi Salmon.
And Murray couldn’t resist taking a cheeky swipe at his friend upon seeing the news he’d be on the ground in Riyadh.
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“Ahhhh now it makes sense @Liambroady,” Murray wrote on X alongside several dollar bill emojis.
Broady also posted about the trailer used to promote the event with the tennis stars involved were depicted as iconic characters from Indiana Jones.
“Speechless as to how damn cool this promo is,” Broady said.
“Probably the best I’ve ever seen in tennis. Would watch this movie. 10/10.”
Murray clapped back: “Except it’s not a movie and you won’t watch it because it’s an exhibition tennis event that nobody cares about.”
The 37-year-old has previously taken a strong stance when it comes to playing in Saudi Arabia and said in June 2022 he ‘personally wouldn’t go and play there’.
However, his perspective somewhat softened as he claimed in July last year playing in Saudi Arabia ‘becomes a slightly different question’ should they host ‘major tournaments’ and affect players’ ranking points.
Yet that is something Murray no longer needs to worry about as he retired from the sport after the Paris Olympics.
Unable to compete in singles, Murray and Dan Evans enjoyed a run to the quarter finals where they were beaten by third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
The quarterfinals of the Six Kings Slam have already commenced as Sinner beat Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 to book a match against Djokovic in the semi finals.
