As happens in most Olympic years, many top names are not making the trip to Montreal or Toronto. During such a busy tennis summer, with the US Open just three weeks away, some players are opting to rest, while others are injured and unable to play. Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, and Ash Barty are all absent this week.
However, five of the ATP top 10 are present, as are six of the WTA top 10. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is certainly the headliner on the men’s side, even though 2019 finalist Daniil Medvedev is the top seed. The other defending champion is Canada’s own Bianca Andreescu, who takes center stage for the women, alongside six other Major singles champions.
For this event, the ATP and WTA alternate years in each city. In 2021, the women play in Montreal, and the men compete in Toronto.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Monday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Paula Badosa vs. Viktoija Golubic – 11:00am on Grandstand in Montreal
Both players recently achieved their first Major quarterfinals: Badosa at Roland Garros, and Golubic at Wimbledon. However, they had strikingly different experiences at the Tokyo Olympics. Golubic won the silver medal in women’s doubles with Belinda Bencic, while Badosa was forced to retire after the first set of her quarterfinal against Marketa Vondrousova due to heatstroke, and exited the court in a wheelchair. 28-year-old Golubic has spent much of her career playing underneath tour level, but is having a breakout year, with 44 wins at all levels (including qualifying rounds). But 23-year-old Badosa has broken through even further, debuting inside the top 30 a few weeks ago. And her game is the more powerful and impressive of the two. In their first career meeting, the Spaniard is the favorite to advance, and hopefully put the upsetting scenes from Tokyo behind her.
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Ugo Humbert – 11:00am on Grandstand in Toronto
Just like Badosa and Golubic, these are two of the sport’s fastest-rising players, and they’ll play for the first time on Monday. Since the start of last year, when they were ranked in the 50’s, both have cut their ranking in half. 26-year-old Sonego won Cagliari in April, reached the semis of Rome in May, and was the runner-up at Eastbourne in June. And in just the last two months, 23-year-old Humbert won Halle, played an excellent five-setter with Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon, and was just a few games from the medal rounds in Tokyo, after taking out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16. This surface should favor the Frenchman, who won two hard court titles last season, while the Italian has a losing hard court record in his career. Regardless, this should be a high-quality affair between two in-form players, both of whom have displayed plenty of grit in recent months. The reward for the winner? A second round appointment on Tuesday night with Tsitsipas.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Fabio Fognini vs. Jan-Lennard Struff – They’ve split two previous encounters, though both occurred on clay. Fognini was a quarterfinalist at this event when it was last staged two years ago.
Dan Evans vs. Alexander Bublik – They’ve also split their two tour-level matches, with both taking place on hard courts. Most recently, Evans prevailed in straight sets last year in Adelaide.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (8) vs. Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Rybakina – Gauff and Pegula just played an exhibition match against each other on Saturday in Washington. Kudermetova and Rybakina both suffered heartbreak in Tokyo, finishing fourth in doubles and singles, respectively.
Reilly Opelka vs. Nick Kyrgios (WC) – If you like aces and tiebreaks, this is likely the match for you. Kyrgios is now ranked 80th in the world, and has only played 12 matches since February of 2020. Opelka has struggled since reaching the semifinals of Rome three months ago.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
