The Montreal Masters gets under way this week without Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Alexander Zverev, who is preparing to compete in Canada, says it would be a waste of time to try to tempt Djokovic into competing at similar tournaments in the future with money.
Zverev, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon, believes financial incentives would not encourage more top players to compete. He claimed Djokovic has in excess of £400 million 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: "I don't think he cares about his ranking either. I honestly don't think so."
Top names missing in Montreal
Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the tournament, as has Djokovic, with the news confirmed last month. Carlos Alcaraz is also absent, 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 lost to Sinner in the Wimbledon final at SW19, responded to questions about some of the sport's biggest names withdrawing from the Montreal Masters.
Sinner explains decision
Sinner won Wimbledon less than a month ago and issued a statement explaining his decision to withdraw from Montreal.
"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."
Who is still playing?
Despite the absentees, the tournament in Canada will feature Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Taylor Fritz.
