Zverev remains wary of 12-day Masters events

AFP | Montreal

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Alexander Zverev warned on Sunday of burnout and dropouts due to overly long ATP Masters 1000 events as he returned to the scene of his 2017 title in Canada.

The top seed and world number two told reporters in Montreal that he has his doubts about the wisdom of the 12-day Masters tournaments, which can seem as long and draining to players as a Grand Slam fortnight.

This edition of the elite Canadian hard court tournament is missing world number one Jannik Sinner, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who has not played since April due to a wrist injury.

"I think (the pullouts) are a result of the two-week Masters event. I think it's just too long for some players, too much before the US Open," Zverev said.

"I used to play more 500 events, 250 events when the Masters were shorter, but now I don't do that anymore just because of time spent away and time spent on tournaments."

Zverev said that he and his team also seriously considered bypassing Canada this year.

"We had a thought also of maybe skipping Montreal, but then we decided to play it

But the reigning Roland Garros champion and Wimbledon finalist last month added: "I need to play matches. I need to play tournaments.

"I don't think maybe I'll play my best tennis here, but the result of playing here, I think I'll play better in Cincinnati and then hopefully my best tennis in New York," he said, looking ahead to the US Open that starts on August 31.

Despite fatigue, the 29-year-old is hoping to take his summer momentum into the North American hard court build-up before the final major of the season.

"The two months that I had was fantastic. Of course, I wanted to win Wimbledon, I wanted to win the final (against Sinner).

"But I played an opponent who also knows how to play in these moments, and he played a phenomenal match, a great match which could have gone a bit longer. I feel like it could have gone in the fifth set.

"I played a lot of tennis in that period. So I went on holidays for a week and then after started practicing and preparing myself the best I can for this swing."

Zverev leads the tournament field, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime seeded second ahead of Australian Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev and title holder Ben Shelton.

With rain marring the opening day in the French-speaking city, completed matches were a rarity, with China's number 270 Jerry Shang defeating Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay 6-3, 6-3 before afternoon rains set in.

'Sanctions won't solve problem of bloated events'

Alexander Zverev said that money won't solve the problem of big-name absentees as the ATP Montreal Masters kicked off on Sunday without Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and injured Carlos Alcaraz.

Amid their frustration, Canadian officials have called for financial and other player sanctions over the series of late withdrawals from the first of two major events prior to the August 31 start of the US Open.

But Zverev said throwing dollars at the problem will make zero difference to any of the trio of elite multimillionaires.

"It's not rocket science," the Wimbledon runner-up said. "We get bonuses at the end of the year if we play all nine Masters.

"You think Novak 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 said that also applied to ranking level for the 39-year-old Serb, who owns 24 Grand Slam singles titles and has career prize money earnings alone approaching $200 million.

"I don't think he cares about his ranking either. I honestly don't think so," Zverev added of Djokovic, currently ranked number five in the world.

Zverev said weary players would be more likely to be tempted back if the Masters events that have swelled to 11, 12 or even 13 days were scaled back to a week.

"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."

"You think Novak 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"

                  — ALEXANDER ZVEREV