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Five of the world’s top 10 men’s players will compete at a lucrative exhibition event in Saudi Arabia this week.

There is a reported $4.5m (£3.4m) in prize money on offer at the Six Kings Slam, with some players also likely to have been paid seven-figure sums to appear.

Reports say the winner could take home up to $6m (£4.5m).

For context, the US Open men’s singles champion won $5m (£3.8m), with £3.5m on offer at the Australian Open, £3m at Wimbledon and 2.5m euros (£2.2m) at the French Open.

The world’s top two players – Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – are competing, alongside third-ranked Alexander Zverev, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, world number four Taylor Fritz and two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Britain’s Jack Draper was due to play but ended his season early because of an arm injury.

The event is held over three days, over a three-set format, and will be streamed live on Netflix – having been shown on DAZN last year.

It begins at the quarter-final stage, with four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner playing Tsitsipas and Zverev facing Fritz. Djokovic and six-time major champion Alcaraz have been given byes through to the semi-finals.

As it is an exhibition, there are no ATP ranking points on offer. Results also do not count towards official head-to-head records.

Matches will take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday as, under ATP rules, players cannot compete on three consecutive days at exhibitions.

Exhibitions are meant to promote the sport and take it to new audiences. Organisers want the best players in the world to feature because they will sell more tickets.

Roger Federer played Rafael Nadal in Cape Town in 2020 in front of 51,954 fans – a reported record for a tennis crowd at the time, albeit not an official match.

Alcaraz – a gifted, highly entertaining shot-maker – plays a lot of exhibitions.

He faced Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in New York and North Carolina respectively at the start of the year

Alcaraz and Tiafoe also took part in an event in Puerto Rico, and are scheduled to play alongside Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova in New Jersey in December.

The Spaniard has also been vocal about the strain of the increasingly packed calendar, saying in 2024 they are “going to kill us in some way”.

When asked last year about playing so many exhibitions, Alcaraz said: “I have seen that many people talk about my calendar because I have put many exhibitions [in].

“But you have to separate the calendar and the exhibitions – they are different things.”

Concerns have also been raised about Saudi Arabia using its wealth to invest in sports in a bid to improve its image – known as ‘sportswashing’.

World number 12 Casper Ruud said last year he had turned down offers to play in the Kingdom.

He also spoke about human rights issues in other countries, such as China.

“You can definitely discuss China and human rights in China, but we go there every year,” he told Danish outlet SpilXperten.

“If you want to put Saudi Arabia as a controversial country, there should be other countries as well that should be mentioned, and we don’t mention those.”

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Hull KR’s Grand Final-winning trio Mikey Lewis, Jez Litten and Joe Burgess have all been named in England’s final 24-man squad for the autumn Ashes Test series against Australia but there is no place for Super League’s Man of Steel winner Jake Connor.

Litten’s only previous cap arrived against France in 2023, while Burgess, who scored two tries in Hull KR’s triumph over Wigan on Saturday, returns to the England set-up after a 10-year absence.

But Connor, who was also omitted from the squad get-together in June, has been unable to convince head coach Shaun Wane he deserves a spot amid fierce competition in the halves.

Wane’s stellar options in those berths include captain George Williams, Wigan’s Harry Smith and Lewis, who won the Rob Burrow Award for man of the match with a sparkling performance at Old Trafford.

“I’m really excited by the 24 players we have selected ahead of this upcoming Ashes Series,” said Wane.

“There were some tough decisions to be made given the quality we have across both Super League and the NRL and that’s never easy, but I am confident that the 24 selected will give us the best chance of winning this series.”

Full-back AJ Brimson, who switched his international allegiance from Australia to England in May, is one of six players selected who ply their trade in the NRL.

Newcastle Knights duo Dom Young and Kai Pearce-Paul feature along with Dolphins centre Herbie Farnworth, North Queensland’s John Bateman and former Wigan lock Morgan Smithies, who is now at Canberra Raiders.

Jack Welsby, Morgan Knowles and Alex Walmsley are among a quintet of St Helens involved, while Wigan and Leeds Rhinos have three repesentatives each in the party.

Shaun Wane has provided the answers England fans were waiting for in naming his Ashes Test squad – notably in the halves.

Captain George Williams, Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis will tussle for the two spots with Jack Welsby and new Australia-born recruit AJ Brimson providing cover.

Notably that means no Jake Connor despite a Man of Steel year, while another significant omission is Wigan back-rower Junior Nsemba – having been a huge part of the promotional build up.

Lewis’ success with treble winners Hull KR means he is joined by team-mates Jez Litten at hooker and winger Joe Burgess – all stars of their Grand Final win over Wigan.

Star power is certainly provided by Herbie Farnworth after another magnificent season for NRL side Dolphins, along with fellow Aussie-based talent such as Dom Young and Kai Pearce-Paul.

British number three Katie Boulter moved into the second round of the Japan Open after an impressive win over world number 17 Linda Noskova.

The world number 59 beat her Czech opponent 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes in Osaka to set up a second-round tie against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

It was Boulter’s first victory against a top-20 opponent since beating Paula Badosa at Wimbledon in July.

“I’m really pleased with my performance today. It’s been a difficult few weeks,” said Boulter.

“I just tried to bet on myself – to commit to the ball and go for it.

Both players lost their serve three times in the first set but Boulter dominated the tie-break to take an advantage.

Boulter improved significantly in the second set, when she won 78% of points on serve compared to 51% during the first set.

The victory was much-needed after a disappointing summer.

The 29-year-old came into the match on the back of five opening-round defeats from seven tournaments, slipping behind Sonay Kartal in the rankings to become Britain’s number three.

Cirstea came from behind to beat Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 2-6 6-4 6-2 to set up the match against Boulter.