MONTREAL – World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic have withdrawn from the National Bank Open.
Tennis Canada announced Friday that both players will not be competing in Montreal because they were on the entry list for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, which begins Aug. 1.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz is not on the list of players as he continues to recover from a right wrist injury that forced him to miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
“After carefully considering all factors with my team, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Montreal,” said Sinner, who won Wimbledon earlier this month.
“It’s never easy to miss such an important event, but I believe this is the right decision with my health as my top priority. I’m disappointed not to be able to participate, but I look forward to returning to Montreal in the future.”
French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev will be the top seed for this tournament.
Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime will be seeded second, making him the highest-seeded Canadian in the tournament’s history.
Sinner, Djokovic and Alcaraz, three of the biggest names in men’s tennis, also missed last year’s Toronto tournament, when the 12-day tournament began just two weeks after Wimbledon.
Officials at this year’s tournament expected there would be fewer withdrawals since it starts three weeks after the Wimbledon final, but they expressed their dissatisfaction in a press release.
“We are obviously very disappointed that Yannick and Novak will not be participating in Montreal this year, especially since they also withdrew from last year’s Toronto tournament. We respect their decision and understand that the health of our players must continue to be a priority during such a demanding schedule,” NBO tournament director Valerie Tétreault said in a statement.
“That being said, we believe the frequency of last-minute withdrawals in recent years raises broader issues for our sport. The Masters 1000 event is one of the Tour’s flagship tournaments, and fans rightly expect to see the world’s best.”
Sinner, 24, and Djokovic, 39, could make their return to action at the Cincinnati Open, with main draw matches starting the day after the National Bank Open and ahead of the US Open in late August.
