Sinner defends Canada’s crown in Montreal; Zverev, Medvedev are in action
The world’s top players will compete in the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal for the sixth ATP Masters 1000 event of the year.
The field is led by world No. 1 and reigning Toronto champion Jannik Sinner, with Daniel Medvedev and Alexander Zverev also competing. A look at ten storylines to follow this coming week is provided by ATPTour.com.
1) Defending Champion Sinner: The Italian will play for the first time since the Wimbledon quarterfinals after withdrawing from the Paris Olympics owing to tonsillitis. Sinner’s victory in the Toronto title race last year was his first Masters 1000 victory. With a 42-4 season record, the 22-year-old now comes back to Canada as #1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
2) Zverev Aims For Second Season Title: Zverev, the second seed, is happy about his 2017 title win in Montreal. Zverev leads the ATP Tour this season with 44 match wins. He won the trophy in the Masters 1000 event in Rome this year.
3) Can Medvedev Take Over Montreal?: The third seed has jokingly declared himself an expert on hard courts. Medvedev is going for his first title since Rome last year, having not been on his favored surface since March in Miami. The 28-year-old, a six-time Masters 1000 champion, took home the Canadian title in 2021 at the Toronto-hosted competition.
4) Felix, the home favorite: Felix Auger-Aliassime, a Canadian, is coming to his home tournament after impressive performances at the Olympics in Paris. He made it to the semi-finals in singles and won bronze in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski. Auger-Aliassime, who finished in second place in Madrid this year, hopes to advance further and win his first Masters 1000 championship in 2022.
5) Top 10 Seeds: After making it to the quarterfinals in Washington, Andrei Rublev travels to Montreal.For the first time since Miami, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas return to hard courts. Global No. 6Hubert Hurkacz, who had a knee injury at Wimbledon, is hoping to return to his former level.
6) #NextGenATP Frenchman Fils: In the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Hamburg champion Arthur Fils hopes to maintain his commanding lead. The two-time tour-level champion hopes to make a return trip to the Next Gen ATP Finals for players aged 20 and under, sponsored by PIF, which will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on December 18–22.
7) Raonic, Shapovalov Lead Home Hopes: Two of the four Canadian main-draw wild cards are former World No. 3 Miguel Raonic and 2017 semifinalist Denis Shapovalov. The field also includes 6’8″ Gabriel Diallo, 22, who won the Chicago ATP Challenger Tour tournament two weeks ago, and Vasek Pospisil.
8) Americans Seeking Glory: Since Andy Roddick’s victory in 2003, an American guy has not taken home the title of Canadian Masters 1000 winner. Three athletes from the United States are ranked in the Top 12 this year: Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, and Tommy Paul, who advanced to the semifinals last year.
9) Unseeded Surprise Run?: Two years ago, at the Canadian Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal, Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta made history by being the first unseeded winner of the competition since 2002. Among the unsettled competitors vying for the greatest career victory this week are Fils, Jack Draper, Nicolas Jarry, Alexander Bublik, and Sebastian Korda.
10) Granollers/Zeballos Doubles Top Seeds: Currently ranked #1 in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos begin their season-long quest for a second Masters 1000 title in Rome.Competing are Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden and the 2021 champions, Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury.
