Alexander Zverev, seeded No. 1 at the Montreal Masters 1000, declared on Sunday that financial sanctions would not solve the problem of the absence of big names at ATP tournaments at this level, also warning against the risk of exhaustion and abandonments linked to the excessive duration of these tournaments.
This edition of the prestigious Canadian hard court tournament is in fact deprived of world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, legend Novak Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (No. 3), who has not played since April due to a wrist injury.
Canadian officials have called for sanctions, including financial ones, against the players after this series of last-minute withdrawals for the first of the two Masters 1000 preceding the US Open.
“It’s not very complicated,” Zverev said. “We receive bonuses at the end of the year if we compete in the nine Masters. Do you think Novak will care about a bigger bonus? I think (he) has – if I had to guess – over 400 million (dollars) in his bank account. I’m not sure he would care about 50,000 more or less.”
Zverev clarified that this also applies to the ranking of the 39-year-old Serb, whose career earnings are around $200 million.
“I don’t think he cares about his ranking either. Honestly, I don’t believe it,” Zverev added about Djokovic, currently ranked No. 5 in the world.
The world No. 2, recent champion at Roland-Garros and finalist at Wimbledon, expressed his reservations about the relevance of the Masters 1000 played over 12 days, which can seem as long and exhausting for players as around fifteen Grand Slams.
“I think these packages are linked to the two-week length of the Masters 1000. I think it’s just too long for some players, too intensive before the US Open,” Zverev insisted.
“Before, I participated more in 500 or 250 category tournaments, when the Masters 1000 were shorter, but today I don’t do that anymore, simply because of the time spent away from home and the time spent in tournaments,” he added.
The 29-year-old German said he and his team also seriously considered not traveling to Canada this year.
“We also thought about perhaps skipping Montreal, but we ultimately decided to participate. (…) I need to play matches. I need to participate in tournaments,” he explained.
