Zverev: Masters length, not bonuses, causes withdrawals

World number two Alexander Zverev argued on Sunday that financial penalties or incentives are ineffective in compelling top players to compete in mandatory ATP Masters 1000 events, stating the real issue is the tournaments' expanded length. The German made his comments at a press conference in Montreal as the National Bank Open began without world number one Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and the injured Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev directly addressed proposals from tournament officials, including Montreal tournament director Valérie Tétreault, who have called for financial consequences for players who skip these events. He noted the ATP already has a year-end bonus system for players who participate in all nine Masters tournaments. He dismissed the idea that increasing that bonus would influence a player like Djokovic, who has earned nearly $200 million in career prize money. "You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus?" Zverev said. "I think the guy has, if I would have to guess, the guy is north of $400 million in his bank account. I'm not sure he would care about $50,000 more or less." He added that he did not believe Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion currently...