Félix Auger-Aliassime, a Montreal native, is set to begin his campaign at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers as the No. 2 seed. The tournament’s men’s draw was finalized on Friday. Auger-Aliassime, currently ranked a career-high No. 4 on the ATP Tour, will start in the second round against either Luca Van Assche or a qualifier.
Should Auger-Aliassime advance through his matches, he could potentially face French Open finalist and No. 6 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the quarterfinals. Auger-Aliassime has not yet secured an ATP Masters 1000 title. A Canadian player has not won the singles competition of this event in the Open era.
Canadian Players in the Draw
Other Canadian players are also participating in the tournament. Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., ranked No. 68, will play against Zachary Svajda of the United States in his opening match. Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo, ranked No. 99, is scheduled to face a qualifier in the first round.
Wild-card entry Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ont., will compete against Daniel Merida of Spain. Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., is set to play against Vit Kopriva of Czechia. The qualifying rounds for the tournament are scheduled for Saturday.
The National Bank Open is being held in Montreal this year, with the men’s event taking place from August 1-13. This year’s tournament features an expanded format, running for 12 days with 96-player main singles draws, an increase from the previous weeklong duration with 56 players. There are also 32 doubles teams, up from 28. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and final matches will all be played during night sessions over the last four days of the event.
Top Seeds and Notable Absences
The No. 1 seed for the tournament is Alexander Zverev of Germany, who could potentially meet No. 7 Taylor Fritz of the U.S. in the quarterfinals. Ben Shelton, who won last year’s event in Toronto, and 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev are also on track for a potential clash at the same stage of the tournament.
Several high-profile players have withdrawn from the tournament. Jannik Sinner, a five-time Grand Slam champion, pulled out just over a week before the event’s opening. Novak Djokovic also withdrew last week. Carlos Alcaraz is out due to a right wrist injury, which also caused him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon.
Auger-Aliassime has expressed disappointment about the absence of some top players, stating he would prefer to compete against all of them. He has reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this season, and the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Open, where he lost to Sinner. His deepest run at this hard-court tournament was to the quarters in 2022.
The tournament director in Montreal, Valérie Tétreault, noted that the event’s slightly different spot on the calendar this year, offering players three weeks of rest after Wimbledon instead of two, did not prevent these withdrawals. The National Bank Open is positioned between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and overlaps with the Cincinnati Open, which can create scheduling challenges for players.
Tennis Canada is in discussions with the ATP to explore solutions for high-profile withdrawals at Masters 1000 tournaments. The ATP plans to add a 10th Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia by 2028, which could further crowd the tennis calendar.
The men’s singles champion at this year’s event will earn $1,151,420. The National Bank Open began to close the prize money gap between men and women in 2025, with women making 79 per cent as much as men this year, and equal pay promised by 2027.
Source: sportsnet.ca
