Jannik Sinner unbothered as fan invades court, demands jacket in wild Six Kings Slam chaos; security hauls intruder away

A fan ran onto the Six Kings Slam court in Riyadh and began a bizarre interaction with Jannik Sinner.

Jannik Sinner got his title defence at the exhibition Six Kings Slam tournament underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a comfortable and commanding victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal round. Sinner only needed 76 minutes to brush past the Greek, dropping only five games and setting up a semifinal to savour against Novak Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner was approached by a fan after his match in the Six Kings Slam.(Screengrab)

It was business as usual for Sinner, who continues to look a class apart from much of the tour. He bounced back well from his injury-enforced withdrawal from the Shanghai Masters. There was very little drama to a match that Sinner dominated from start to finish – but a slightly bizarre and concerning scene did unfold at the end of this match in Riyadh, which has led fans to question the security standards during this big-money and high-profile exhibition event.

After Sinner had concluded his on court interview following the match, cameras captured a young man rushing up to him. While Sinner shook hands with him and began chatting, realisation sson seemed to dawn for the Italian that this man was not a part of the tournament staff, but rather just a fan from the crowd, who had made his way on to court in order to ask for the four-time grand slam champion’s jacket.

Sinner looked quizzical, lost in translation as he seemingly didn’t understand what was being asked of him. However, security would soon show up at the scene, physically removing the intruding fan.

Security concern following the incident?

Tennis fans were quick to note how such a breach of security is a dangerous thing in tennis, citing in particular the attack upon women’s tour great Monica Seles in Hamburg in 1993, where security was not able to stop an attacker from stabbing her in the back. While this interaction with Sinner was a largely innocent one, fans did call for higher security standards, to protect players in a tense environment.

Other fans also noted how Sinner had gone through a similarly tricky incident with a fan during the recent US Open, where he was autographing memorabilia when one fan reached over and tried to open his tennis bag.

Thankfully, this incident will only be remembered as an odd and slightly bizarre one, and the security can sure to be heightened when the biggest stars begin the semifinals and finals in Riyadh as they vie for a large prize pot in the Saudi Arabian capital.