Zverev would rather face the best as Sinner, Djokovic withdrawals open path at NBO

MONTREAL — Alexander Zverev has faced Jannik Sinner five times in the semifinals or finals of tournaments this season, losing on each occasion.

Despite that, the German star wishes the world No. 1 hadn’t withdrawn from the National Bank Open.

“I think you want to be competing against the best, especially before the U.S. Open,” Zverev said at a news conference Sunday at IGA Stadium. “I understand it, though. I mean, we had a thought also of maybe skipping Montreal this year, but then we decided to play it.

“Of course, it’s not a positive that I keep losing to the same guy, or I have lost to the same guy multiple times, but I think it definitely shows that we were probably the two most stable players on tour this year, and that’s a positive.”

Zverev, ranked No. 2 in the world and the top seed in Montreal, notably lost to Sinner in the Madrid final and most recently at Wimbledon.

The 29-year-old said he quickly moved past the defeat to Sinner at the grass-court Grand Slam, although he would have liked to extend the match by forcing a deciding set.

Zverev also realized after his French Open triumph in June that winning his first Grand Slam title did not really change his life.

“It’s a satisfaction, for sure. I mean, I’ve waited for that Grand Slam title a very long time, in a way, and, of course, I’m very happy that it came,” he said. “But the work continues since we have three Masters tournaments here in North America, and that’s what the focus is on.”

Zverev said it was important for him to play a lot of matches to feel comfortable on court. As a result, he took only one week off after Wimbledon before returning to training.

He added, however, that every player has their own approach, and he understands why Sinner and veteran Novak Djokovic decided to skip the Montreal tournament.

Zverev also did not appear particularly interested in discussing ways to encourage all players to participate in Masters 1000 events.

“Honestly, if everything goes back to the old (way) and we would play one-week Masters events, yeah, we can talk about it,” he said. “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.”

“You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus?” he added. “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.”

Zverev is therefore not a big fan of 12-day Masters events, a format the National Bank Open adopted last year.

“I used to play more 500 events, 250 events when the Masters were shorter,” he said.

Still, Zverev hopes the Montreal tournament, which he won in 2017, will serve as a springboard for his hard-court season.

“I don’t think maybe I’ll play my best tennis here,” he said. “But the result of me playing here, I think I’ll play better in Cincinnati and then hopefully my best tennis in New York.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2026.

Alexis Bélanger-Champagne, The Canadian Press