"You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus?": Alexander Zverev laughs off Novak Djokovic being lured to Montreal by bigger bonuses
ATPMonday, 03 August 2026 at 18:00
The Canadian Open albeit rained off in part started on Sunday and for Alexander Zverev, he is top seed with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic all deciding against playing in Canada this time around. But amid talk of potentially more bonuses for big names bothering with the tournaments, Zverev made the saliant point that in reality a player of the ilk of Djokovic isn't going to be bothered by bonuses.
Zverev made the point why neither financial incentives or ranking penalties would bother the 24-time Grand Slam champion in particular. Tournament director Valérie Tétreault and Tennis Canada CEO Gavin Ziv said earlier in the week that they were looking at ways to make sure that the big names participate in these events.
Canada has long had a problem on the men's side being post Wimbledon that in the men's event, players often are lured to Cincinnati over Canada despite it being a mandatory ATP 1000 so they do not play this week.
Zverev was asked whether handing out bonuses and Zverev scoffed at the issue. He said that the system is already in place to curb absentees with players who compete in eight out of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments receiving a share off the bonus pool.
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Rankings or bonuses not going to help Djokovic
Albeit this in Zverev's mind is not something for Djokovic in particular who will already have millions in his account and plays merely for fun at this point.
"That's the way it is right now. I mean, it's not rocket science. We get bonuses at the end of the year if we play all nine Masters," he said in his press conference.
"You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus? I think the guy has — I mean, if I would have to guess, the guy is north of 400 million in his bank account, and so I'm not sure he would care about 50,000 more or less."
Alexander Zverev laughs off notion of bonuses or rankings enticing Djokovic.
He also rejected the notion that he would care about ranking penalties especially given that Djokovic for a long time has snubbed playing these events and only plays majors something that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. For others such as Alcaraz and Sinner it is different.
Sinner seems to want a break and so can't play while Alcaraz is injured and is only coming back in Cincinnati so more often than not both would be there anyway something that Zverev admits wouldn't be the case when it comes to Djokovic.
"I don't think he cares about his ranking either. But what do you want? Do you want us to drop in rankings if we don't play? Honestly, if everything goes to the old and we would play one-week Masters events, yeah, we can talk about it, but if you're forcing us to be away for two and a half, three weeks during Grand Slams and the same then goes for Masters events, you can't force us to play."
"Sorry, that's nonsense. At the end of the day, if you play all nine Masters, you get a bonus at the end of the year. So there is that to it as well."
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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