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<\/p>\n\u201cIt is never easy to miss such an important event, but we believe this is the right decision to prioritize my health. I\u2019m disappointed not to be there, but I look forward to returning to Montreal in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev will now be the tournament\u2019s top seed.<\/p>\n
Montreal\u2019s F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime will be seeded second, making him the highest-seeded Canadian in the tournament\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Sinner, Djokovic and Alcaraz \u2014 the three biggest draws in men\u2019s tennis \u2014 also missed last year\u2019s event in Toronto, when the 12-day tournament began just two weeks after Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
Tournament officials had expected fewer withdrawals this year, with the event starting three weeks after the All England Club finals, and expressed their frustration in a press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are obviously very disappointed that Jannik and Novak won\u2019t be joining us in Montr\u00e9al this year, especially after they also withdrew from last year\u2019s tournament in Toronto. We respect their decisions and understand that, with such a demanding schedule, players\u2019 health must remain the priority,\u201d said NBO tournament director Val\u00e9rie T\u00e9treault in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, we believe the frequency of these last-minute withdrawals in the last few years raises a broader issue for our sport. Masters 1000 events are among the flagship tournaments on the tour, and fans rightfully expect to see the world\u2019s best compete.\u201d<\/p>\n
T\u00e9treault added that Tennis Canada is already in discussion with the ATP to \u201censure this matter receives serious consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe firmly believe adjustments are needed in the near future to better protect the integrity of our Masters 1000 events while remaining mindful of the realities players face,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old Sinner and the 39-year-old Djokovic could return to action at the Cincinnati Open, with main-draw play beginning the day the National Bank Open ends, before the U.S. Open in late August.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt is never easy to miss such an important event, but we believe this is the right decision…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-824309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}