The tennis season might simply be too long. Some players withdraw from even important events because their bodies just need a rest. The Canadian Open saw many high-end players not participate because the event is followed by the Cincinnati Open and then the US Open. Alexander Zverev is among those stars who are playing, though.
Ahead of the Canadian Masters, he was asked during a press conference about the potential option of players receiving bonuses for participating in certain tournaments, such as Masters events on the men's side and WTA 1000s on the women's side. The German pointed out that players already receive year-end bonuses for participating in all nine Masters.
The follow-up question specifically mentioned Novak Djokovic and whether he might go to a tournament if a bonus was involved. The obvious answer is no. Zverev answered with the why.
Alexander delivers the best answer about a Novak Djokovic question
"You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus?" Zverev said. "If I were to guess, the guy has north of $400 million on his bank account, so I'm not sure he would care about $50,000 more or less... I don't think he cares about his ranking either."
The ATP No. 3 also pointed out that Masters tournaments are now nearly as long as Grand Slams, which take place over two weeks. Many Masters now last at least 10 days. The problem becomes that a player can only fit so many tournaments into the schedule, and at some point, they need a break.
Players who are still trying to work their way up the rankings and just beginning their careers will likely play more in order to gain points and money. Established players, such as Zverev, Djokovic, Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz, have less reason to do so. They make as much money, or more, from endorsements than they do playing tennis anyway.
What the fix is for stretching out higher-point tournaments is unknown. Lesser events certainly suffer as top-ranked players are less likely to participate in them. But then, those lesser tournaments don't bring in as many viewers as 1000 tournaments or majors. It's a Catch-22 in the worst way.
What is clear is that the players do not need to be the ones who come up with the answers to how to fix a tennis problem before it becomes too out of control, if it isn't already.
Players are independent contractors, and the ATP and WTA boards need to work in conjunction with those who run tournaments on how to fix the scheduling issue. As for Djokovic and others, Zverev is right: A bonus won't matter.
Add us as a preferred source on Google