Six Kings Slam in Riyadh postponed to December after airport attack
The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition in Riyadh has been postponed after a deadly missile strike on the city's airport.
The three-day event was due to start on 21 October. It will now be played on 27-30 December, BBC Sport.
No tennis this month. The entry list was strong. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev were set to feature, alongside Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Learner Tien. Jannik Sinner won the event last year.
The postponement follows attacks on Saudi Arabia at the weekend by Yemen's Houthi movement. That included a missile strike on Riyadh's airport on Saturday which killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The tennis was to be held at the ANB Arena in the north of Riyadh, about 31km from King Khalid International Airport. Airlines have cancelled flights to Saudi Arabia since the weekend attacks, Reuters.
Tennis is not the only sport affected. Three Saudi Pro League football fixtures were postponed on Tuesday, including one involving Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. Al-Riyadh against Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad against Al-Shabab have been pushed back until December. Al-Nassr's trip to Al-Ahli has been moved to March.
On Monday, Ronaldo scored for Al-Nassr in an AFC Champions League match that was delayed by an hour because of a missile alert.
For fans, this means a longer wait for an exhibition, a non-tour event that does not award world ranking points. The focus now turns to what else stays on in Riyadh. The PIF Saudi International golf event is still scheduled at Riyadh Golf Club from 18-21 November. Organisers of major Saudi conferences had said last week that their events would proceed despite the airport attack.
