Djokovic ‘doesn’t care’ about punishments and bonuses as Zverev hits out | Tennis | Sport

Alexander Zverev shot down suggestions that financial sanctions or increased bonuses could entice Novak Djokovic to play the ATP Montreal Masters. The 24-time Slam champion withdrew from the 1000 ATP event, with Zverev insisting it would be a waste of time to try to tempt Djokovic into competing at similar tournaments in the future with money.

Zverev is currently preparing to feature in Montreal with the tournament getting underway this week, but a number of the sport’s biggest names will not be competing.

Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the tournament, as has Djokovic, with the news being confirmed last month.

There is also no Carlos Alcaraz competing in Montreal over the next two weeks, with the seven-time grand slam champion still recovering from a wrist injury which ruled him out of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Zverev, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon with his defeat to Sinner in the final at SW19, has responded to questions about some of the sport’s biggest names withdrawing from the Montreal Masters.

The 29-year-old believes that financial incentives would not work for encouraging more players to compete, claiming that Djokovic has in excess of £400million in the bank.

“It’s not rocket science,” Zverev said. “We get bonuses at the end of the year if we play all nine Masters.

“You think Novak [Djokovic] will care if he gets a bigger bonus? I think the guy has – if I would have to guess, the guy is north of 400 million (dollars) in his bank account.

“I’m not sure he would care about 50,000 more or less.”

Zverev added about Djokovic: “I don’t think he cares about his ranking either. I honestly don’t think so.”

Despite the likes of Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner not competing, the tournament in Canada will still feature Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Taylor Fritz.

Sinner won Wimbledon less than a month ago and issued a statement explaining why he decided to withdraw from the Montreal Masters.

“After carefully considering all the factors together with my team, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Montreal,” Sinner’s statement read.

“It is never easy to miss such an important event, but we believe this is the right decision to prioritise my health. I’m disappointed not to be there, but I look forward to returning to Montreal in the future.”