Expect the unexpected at the 2024 National Bank Open. It’s an even busier summer than usual because of the Olympics, and the fact that it was on a different surface (clay) only adds to the variables involved in the U.S. hard-court swing.
Gold medalist Novak Djokovic and silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz have already withdrawn from the Montreal Masters, so the field is a bit depleted. Bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti is also absent. Those who are participating could be dealing with fatigue on the heels of a heavy workload on both grass and clay–such as Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Felix Auger-Aliassime. However, defending champion and top seed Jannik Sinner is well rested after missing the Paris Olympics because of tonsillitis.
Let’s take a look at what could be in store this coming week in Montreal.
National Bank Open Presented by Rogers
Where: Montreal, Canada
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $6,795,555
Points: 1000
Top seed: Jannik Sinner
Defending champion: Jannik Sinner
Draw analysis: After dominating the first few months of 2024, Sinner has been left out of the party a bit in recent weeks. Djokovic and Alcaraz not only squared off in the Olympics final but also in the Wimbledon championship. The Spaniard triumphed at the All-England Club and at Roland Garros before losing to Djokovic in the gold-medal showdown. Nonetheless, Sinner is still No. 1 in the world and will be eager to cement his status as such from now through the U.S. Open.
This is a great opportunity for Sinner to successfully defend his 2023 title. He is without question the best player in this field, so it should not matter that his draw is somewhat difficult. A red-hot Paul looms as a potential quarterfinal foe, and before that there are some talented possible third-round opponents in the form of Alejandro Tabilo, Frances Tiafoe, and Tallon Griekspoor. The top half of the bracket also features Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The bottom half is home to Zverev, Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, and Grigor Dimitrov. It remains to be seen if Hurkacz will even play, though, because he appeared to suffer a bad knee injury at Wimbledon. If the Pole withdraws or is less than 100 percent, Auger-Aliassime could be able to treat the home crowd to a deep run.
First-round matches to watch in Montreal are Tabilo vs. Tiafoe, Fils vs. Ugo Humbert, Auger-Aliassime vs. Flavio Cobolli, Ben Shelton vs. Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune vs. Milos Raonic, and Jack Draper vs. Jordan Thompson. If the seeds hold to form, quarterfinal matchups would be Sinner vs. Andrey Rublev, Medvedev vs. Tsitsipas, Hurkacz vs. Dimitrov, and Zverev vs. Ruud.
Hot: Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Alejandro Tabilo, Arthur Fils, Nuno Borges, Flavio Cobolli, Marcos Giron, Jordan Thompson
Cold: Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Kei Nishikori, Adrian Mannarino, Vasek Pospisil, Milos Raonic, Pablo Carreno Busta
Quarterfinal predictions: Jannik Sinner over Tommy Paul, Matteo Arnaldi over Arthur Fils, Felix Auger-Aliassime over Ben Shelton, and Taylor Fritz over Jack Draper
Semifinals: Sinner over Arnaldi and Fritz over Auger-Aliassime
Final: Sinner over Fritz
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