The top seeds walk onto court in Montreal today, and the draw they have been handed is as open as it has been in years.
Alexander Zverev, seeded first at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers and ranked World No. 2, begins his campaign against the winner of the Lorenzo Sonego and Tallon Griekspoor first-round match. Neither is likely to trouble Zverev on hard courts in a straight-sets format, but the German arrives here as one of the most compelling stories in tennis this summer: Roland-Garros champion in June, finalist at Wimbledon weeks later. He is not the defending champion at this tournament, but he is the man the rest of the draw has to beat.
He is hunting World No. 1. The absence of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic from this field makes Montreal the clearest route he has had to a Masters 1000 title in some time. A run to the final here, with 1,000 ranking points on offer, could move him to the top of the ATP Rankings.
Felix Auger-Aliassime plays next, and the crowd at IGA Stadium will make their feelings known from the first point. The Canadian, seeded second and playing at home in Montreal, faces Luca Van Assche of France or a qualifier in his opening match. Auger-Aliassime has spoken openly about how much this tournament means to him. He has never won the Rogers Cup. The combination of home support and an open draw makes 2026 the most realistic opportunity he has had to change that.
Defending champion Ben Shelton is also in the draw. Shelton is one of the biggest servers on tour and on fast outdoor hard courts he is always dangerous. The potential Zverev versus Shelton match later in the tournament is one of the more compelling sub-plots of the summer swing.
Taylor Fritz also arrives in Montreal with form behind him. Fritz won the men’s singles title at the DC Open in Washington on Sunday, beating Rafael Jódar 7-6(7-2), 6-4 for his 11th ATP title. He is in the same quarter of the Montreal draw as Zverev, setting up a potential quarter-final between the two, having lost to Zverev in straight sets at Wimbledon.
On the women’s side in Toronto, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are the top two seeds at the Sobeys Stadium. The sub-plot worth following: how Jessica Pegula responds. The world No. 3 arrives in Toronto days after losing the DC Open final to Alex Eala on Monday morning. Pegula is a consistent and determined competitor, and losing a final she led 6-4, 1-2 at the rain break will not sit well. She arrives at a WTA 1000 with something to prove.
Eala herself is likely in the Toronto draw, arriving ranked World No. 20 after her DC Open title win. Two days ago she was ranked 28th. How she handles a WTA 1000 field off the back of her first WTA title will tell us a great deal about her ceiling heading into the US Open.
The Rogers Cup runs through to 13 August. The US Open begins 25 August. Form earned in Canada over the next week and a half will carry weight.
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