Coco Gauff gets top seed for National Bank Open in Montreal

Montreal Gazette

22-07-2025

Tennis
American Coco Gauff will be the top seed at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal next week, Tennis Canada announced on Tuesday.
Gauff, the world No. 2, got the top bill after world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew last week, citing fatigue.
Despite the world No. 1, the NBO can boast having 32 of the top 35 players in the WTA rankings — No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, who underwent elbow surgery last week, and No. 10 Paula Badosa, who sustained a back injury at Wimbledon, are the only others who have backed out of the event so far.
'Having Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Jessica Pegula lead the draw — alongside rising stars like Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini — and with nearly all of the world's top 32 players in attendance, this year's field is a true reflection of the incredible depth and talent we're seeing on the WTA Tour,' said Valérie Tétreault, NBO Montreal's tournament director, in a statement from Tennis Canada. 'Leylah Annie Fernandez is just one spot away from joining this elite group of seeds, highlighting the strength of this year's draw and giving Canadian tennis fans many players to cheer on.'
No Canadians are among the 32 seeded players, who will get first-round byes in the 96-player main draw. But Laval's Fernandez, ranked 36th in the world, will be next on the list if another seeded player bows out.
Canadians given wild cards into the main draw are former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Thornhill, Ont. (currently ranked 188th), Vancouver's Rebecca Marino (ranked 118th), rising star Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ont. (currently a career-high 88th), American-born Carson Branstine (191st), London's Kayla Cross (270th), Mississauga's Marina Stakusic (142nd) and Westmount's Eugenie Bouchard, who announced this tournament would be her last. More wild cards are still to be announced.
The men's tournament in Toronto has three seeded Canadians: Montrealers Félix Auger-Aliassime (No. 24) and Gabriel Diallo (No. 32), and Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ont. (No. 25). Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., has announced he, too, will retire after the National Bank Open. Remaining wild cards have yet to be announced. Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., is the only other Canadian in the top 200, ranked 147th overall.
Alexander Zverev of Germany will be the top seed in the men's tournament, followed by American Taylor Fritz. The four other players in the top six (No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic) all withdrew because of injury or need to recover from injury.