Fans Urge ATP to Make Canadian Open One-Week Event After Withdrawals of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic – “Scheduling is Trash”

World No.1 Jannik Sinner last played the Canadian Open in 2024.

Fans Urge ATP to Make Canadian Open One-Week Event After Withdrawals of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic – “Scheduling is Trash”

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Danny, Jannik Sinner HQ)

Jannik Sinner had the chance to bid for a historic Golden Masters, but he chose to withdraw from the Canadian Open. The main draw of the Canadian Open starts on August 3.

Sinner, who lifted the first five Masters 1000s of the season and also became the second man after Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Golden Masters with his win in Rome, would have become the first man in history to complete the Golden Masters with wins in Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai, and Paris. Djokovic also withdrew from the Canadian event.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion, however, has not competed in this event since his third-round exit in 2018. It was in this event back in 2023 that Sinner clinched his career’s first Masters 1000 title by defeating Alex de Minaur. The following season, he suffered a quarterfinal exit and chose to withdraw from it last year.

The World No.1 clinched his career’s first Wimbledon title with a four-set win over two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. He defended his title with a four-set win over Alexander Zverev and decided to skip the Montreal Masters 1000 to prioritize his health.

After carefully considering all the factors together with my team, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Montreal. It is never easy to miss such an important event, but we believe this is the right decision to prioritise my health. I’m disappointed not to be there, but I look forward to returning to Montreal in the future.

Jannik Sinner said in a statement (H/T: ATP Tour)

Alcaraz will also not be playing because of a wrist injury he suffered during the Barcelona Open, and he eventually withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon. He is set to make his comeback at the Cincinnati Masters.

Zverev, who clinched his career’s first Major with a five-set win over Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final, will enter the tournament as the top seed. Felix Auger-Aliassime will be the second seed. The remaining top 10 players in the draw are: Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Ben Shelton, Cobolli, and Taylor Fritz.

Shelton will be competing as the defending champion. The ATP event was held in Toronto last year, and there Shelton clinched his career’s first Big Title with a three-set win over Karen Khachanov.

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Fans slam the ATP for their decision to make the Canadian Open a two-week event after Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal

Both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters used to be weeklong events until last year, joining the other two-week events, Indian Wells, Miami Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and the Shanghai Masters. The two events out of the nine Masters 1000s that follow the one-week format are the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Paris Masters.

Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic (2)
Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Janniksin HQ)

After the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, fans started criticizing the ATP for its decision to expand the schedule by turning the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters into two-week tournaments.

Check out their reactions here:

Djokovic was last seen in action in the semifinals of Wimbledon, where Sinner eliminated him in straight sets. Since winning the 2023 Cincinnati Masters, the Serb hasn’t competed in either of the two Masters 1000 events on the North American hardcourt swing before the US Open.

He is expected to skip the Cincinnati Masters this year as well. Last year at the US Open, eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz beat him in the semifinals.

Alcaraz later defeated defending champion Jannik Sinner in the final. In Cincinnati last year, the 24-year-old handed the walkover to the seven-time Grand Slam champion in the final.

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