The Nationwide Financial institution Open misplaced some star energy on the eve of the event when five-time champion Rafael Nadal introduced his retirement on Friday resulting from an belly damage.
The information got here simply hours earlier than the presentation of the draw for the annual ATP Tour occasion and a day after the retirement of Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.
Neither pullout was a giant shock. Djokovic shouldn’t be vaccinated towards COVID-19 and can’t enter Canada whereas Nadal continues to be recovering from a muscle tear that compelled him to retire forward of his semifinal at Wimbledon final month.
Nadal has received 22 Grand Slam singles titles in his profession, another than Djokovic. The Spaniard was to be the quantity 2 seeded on the ATP Tour occasion behind reigning champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who now races underneath a impartial flag.
The most recent retirement gave American Mackenzie McDonald a spot on the principle draw. The primary spherical matches have been resulting from be finalized in a while Friday with the presentation of the 56-player singles draw.
“We’re clearly upset that Rafael is not going to be with us this 12 months,” stated event director Eugene Lapierre. “A five-time champion of our event and the final males’s champion in Montreal (2019), the followers have been clearly wanting to see him in motion once more at IGA Stadium.”
Kyrgios in the principle draw
Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi and Australian Nick Kyrgios moved on to the principle draw after Thursday’s retirements of Djokovic from Serbia and Oscar Otte from Germany.
The Masters 1000 occasion, which is again in full swing for the primary time since 2019, nonetheless boasts a robust pitch with 41 of the highest 44 gamers within the males’s rating.
Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece are among the headliners together with native favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime from Montreal and Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ont.
The qualifiers are set for the weekend and the principle draw will begin on Monday. Three-time British champion Andy Murray has a wild card in the principle draw alongside Belgium’s David Goffin, Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, BC, and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que.
The US $ 6.57 million event alternates yearly between Montreal and Toronto.