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It is only a matter of time before this year's Canadian Open is up and running in Montreal. The men's singles Masters 1000 event will see some of the world's best players compete at the IGA Stadium.
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev will be among a number of high-profile absentees. However, we still have some world-class players who are more than capable of mesmerizing spectators.
Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz will be perhaps the heaviest favorites to win the tournament, while the likes of Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime are also in the running.
What is the Canadian Open?
The Canadian Open is one of the oldest tournaments in men's tennis and first started in 1881. This year will mark the 132nd edition of the competition.
Over the years, the tournament has undergone several name changes. The event began as the Canadian Championships before being renamed to the Canadian Open in 1968. The tournament was then called the du Maurier Open in 1997-2000 before being changed to the Canada Masters in 2001-2004.
It was renamed to Rogers Cup in 2005-2019 before now being called the National Bank Open.
Ivan Lendl is the most successful male player in the history of the Canadian Open, winning it six times while Rafael Nadal was triumphant on five occasions. Daniil Medvedev won the tournament last year by beating Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Players
Reigning champion Daniil Medvedev is the top seed at the Canadian Open and is a heavy favorite to win it. The Russian looks to be in good touch and is a terrific player on hardcourt, so defeating him will be a daunting task for anyone.
Second seed Carlos Alcaraz has produced some scintillating tennis so far this season and has a good chance of winning his third Masters 1000 title. The likes of Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime are also in contention to win the tournament.
Schedule
The tournament will take place from August 8-15, with the main draw for the men's singles event starting on Monday.
Prize Money
The winner of the women's singles tournament at the National Bank Open will receive a prize money $915,295 while the runner-up will be paid $499,830. The semifinalists will pocket $273,320 each and the quarterfinalists will earn $149,085 each. The total prize pool for the tournament is $5,296,545.
Where to Watch
Viewers in the United States can watch the Canadian Open on the Tennis Channel while those in Canada can catch all the action live on TVA Sports and Sportsnet. Tennis fans in England can watch the WTA 1000 tournament on Amazon Prime Video.
