The Canadian Open has found its main favourite

Next week is the Masters 1000 in Montrealwhich will be a great test for tennis players in the run-up to the US Open at the end of August. The prestigious Canadian tournament will anticipate the Masters 1000 in Cincinnatiwhich will take place the following week in Ohio.

Because of the Olympic Games in ParisIt is not yet clear who will participate in the Canadian Open this year. The final of the Olympic tournament will take place on Sunday, August 4, and it will not be easy for the finalists to travel to Canada in such a short time and play such an important tournament on a different surface (the Olympics are played on red clay, while in Montreal it is played on hard court).

The only player who will be present in Canada is Jannik Sinnerwho missed the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis and has since started training in Montreal. The world number 1 must defend the 1000 points he won last year in Toronto, when he won the first Masters 1000 of his young career.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has already announced that he will skip the Canadian tournament, where he has not played since 2018. The former world No. 1 will likely return to Cincinnati, which will be his only test before the US Open. Nole won in Ohio and New York last year, which is why he has so many points to defend.

Many absences in Canada

Carlos Alcaraz will not participate in the Masters 1000 in Montreal. The young Spaniard reached the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics and admitted to a small problem with his thigh. The 21-year-old from Murcia will return to Cincinnati immediately.

“It’s been a very long season for me and due to the accumulation of games and fatigue, I won’t be able to play in Montreal this year,” Alcaraz said today. “I was really looking forward to coming back to Canada and enjoying the love of the fans. I hope to see everyone in Montreal in the years to come!” – he added.

Alexander Zverev And Daniel Medvedevwho were eliminated earlier than expected at the Olympic Games in Paris, could be present in Montreal. The German, who won the gold medal in Tokyo three years ago, was defeated by Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals. The Russian, however, lost to a great Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last 16, proving once again that he doesn’t have a good feel for red clay.

With all these absences, Sinner will surely be the top favorite in Canada. The Italian ace plays great on this surface and has made a huge leap in quality this year. The world No. 1 won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and took home the Miami Masters 1000, proving himself to be the most consistent player of the season.

Sinner Defends the Title

Sinner and Alcaraz are the two main references on the male tour at the moment, and have proven to be superior to all the others. During a recent interview, Russian ace and former world number 1 Daniel Medvedev explained the differences between these two young champions: “Carlos has a very big quality, like power quality. When he was very young, like 17, he could miss a lot.

He’s got these crazy shots, but at least he misses. Now that he’s in the zone, he doesn’t miss much. We saw it in Roland Garros. I saw a bit of the semi-final and the final, not the whole match. You could see that he missed sometimes, struggled. That’s amazing, because he played with two big, top players, Jannik and Sascha. Even when he wasn’t playing at his best and missed, he hit a rocket into the court every time, the other man would get into such trouble.

Jannik too, he has found it since the end of last year in Canada, where I think he won his first Masters, and he missed less. We always knew it would be hard to get him to play. He can hit winners from any position on the court, but he can also miss. Now he doesn’t miss much. He can hit winners from any position on the court.

It’s not easy. To beat him, you know you have to step forward, you have to be able to hit winners yourself from any position on the court. You have to be able to support the rally. It’s not easy to play them, but it’s a great challenge. They are already great champions of the sport. They have a great career ahead of them in which they can make history.”