MONTREAL: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic have withdrawn from the National Bank Open.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 neither will compete in Montreal after both players were included on the entry list for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament beginning Aug. 1.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz was not included on the player list as he continues to recover from a right wrist injury that forced him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon.
“After carefully considering all the factors together with my team, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Montreal,” said Sinner, who won at Wimbledon earlier this month.
“It is never easy to miss such an important event, but we believe this is the right decision to prioritize my health. I’m disappointed not to be there, but I look forward to returning to Montreal in the future.”
French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev will be the tournament’s top seed.
Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime will be seeded second, making him the highest-seeded Canadian in the tournament’s history.
Sinner, Djokovic and Alcaraz — the three biggest draws in men’s tennis — also missed last year’s event in Toronto, when the 12-day tournament began just two weeks after Wimbledon.
Tournament officials had expected fewer withdrawals this year, with the event starting three weeks after the Wimbledon finals, and expressed their frustration in a press release.
“We are obviously very disappointed that Jannik and Novak won’t be joining us in Montréal this year, especially after they also withdrew from last year’s tournament in Toronto. We respect their decisions and understand that, with such a demanding schedule, players’ health must remain the priority,” NBO tournament director Valérie Tétreault said in a statement.
“That said, we believe the frequency of these last-minute withdrawals in the last few years raises a broader issue for our sport. Masters 1000 events are among the flagship tournaments on the tour, and fans rightfully expect to see the world’s best compete.”
The 24-year-old Sinner and the 39-year-old Djokovic could return to action at the Cincinnati Open, with main draw play beginning the day the National Bank Open ends, before the U.S. Open in late August.