Tournament director Karl Hale is excited to watch the talent on display at this year’s National Bank Open, even though some big names will be missing in action.
Tennis Canada announced Germany's Alexander Zverev and American Coco Gauff as the top seeds of the men's and women's events in Toronto and Montreal on Tuesday, but neither player is the current world No. 1.
Zverev, ranked No. 3, is moving up after top men Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament to recover after Wimbledon. Sixth-ranked Novak Djokovic – a 24-time Grand Slam champion – and No. 5 Jack Draper won’t hit the court in Toronto either.
Hale, who manages the Toronto event, believes that opens the door for Canadians to succeed.
"I've been the tournament director for 20 years, and the best tournament we ever had was 2019, Bianca (Andreescu) winning," said Hale, who added that ticket sales are trending well. "It opens up that opportunity for our Canadians, which we’re really excited about it."
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime is the 24th seed, one spot ahead of Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., who's coming off a tournament win in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Meanwhile, up-and-coming Montrealer Gabriel Diallo slots in at 30th.
"It's unfortunate what happened with some withdrawals," Hale said. "But we're in really good shape, still a great player field and we have great Canadians to mitigate."
The women’s event in Montreal wasn’t hit as hard, but No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka won’t be there due to fatigue.
The ATP and WTA events are mandatory 1000-level tournaments, one notch below the Grand Slams.
"There's some disappointment there because we have a 1000 event, which is supposed to come with that guarantee of being able to offer the best players in the world," said Montreal tournament director Valérie Tétreault. "We were quite unlucky, especially in Toronto. In Montreal, for sure we would have preferred to have Aryna, and I think she's a very popular player, but I think there's still a lot of big stars.
"In Toronto, for sure that hurts a little bit more."
But in the years ahead, Tétreault believes the dropouts won’t be a major problem.
This year’s NBO, with an expanded main draw of 96 athletes instead of 56, runs from Saturday through Aug. 7, beginning only two weeks after Sinner defeated Alcaraz in the men’s Wimbledon final on July 13.
Next year, there will be a three-week period between the two tournaments, and Tétreault expects that will make a difference in player participation.
"This year what's challenging is the fact that it's what we call the short summer calendar on the tours," she said. "Next year and for the years to come, we'll go back to three weeks, which I think is going to help give more time after usually a stretch that is pretty demanding with back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon in a very short period of time."
Many of the world’s best also withdrew from last year’s NBO tournaments because the timing coincided with the Summer Olympics in Paris, but Tétreault said the Montreal and Toronto events have otherwise consistently welcomed top players in the leadup to the US Open in late August.
"You look at the last 10 years or so of our tournament and sure, besides last year with the Olympics … top player participation has been great," she said. "For players who are trying to make sure they can peak at the US Open, you want to make sure that you have two full tournaments on the hard courts.
"If you only plan for one and you lose early, well then you don't have the right preparation."
Hale reiterated that he doesn’t expect the dropouts to persist.
"I've spoken to the players and the agents involved that the expectation is that this does not happen again," he said. "I made a very strong case that our fans deserve the best. We understand from time to time there's injuries and tough schedule, etc., but this will not be tolerated and the future we feel will be in good hands."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
