
Alcaraz joins Sinner, Djokovic as high-profile players dropping out of men's NBO
Alcaraz said in a statement issued by tournament organizers Monday that the tournament comes too soon after his appearance in the Wimbledon final on July 13.
The world No. 2 announced his withdrawal the day after top-ranked Jannik Sinner, 24-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 5 Jack Draper pulled out of the ATP Masters-level hardcourt event.
Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, said he injured his elbow in a fall at the All England Club. He won his first Masters title in Toronto in 2023.
Djokovic blamed a groin injury for his withdrawal from an event he has won four times, while Draper is recovering from a forearm injury.
The women's NBO tournament in Montreal has also had high-profile players withdraw, including world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
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The NBO tournaments start Saturday with one-day qualifying events.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.
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CTV News
14 hours ago
- CTV News
Three seeded Canadians placed in separate quadrants at men's National Bank Open draw
Felix Auger‑Aliassime of Canada returns the ball to Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany during their second round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 3, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) TORONTO — Felix Auger-Aliassime is of two minds about the raft of withdrawals from the National Bank Open. On one hand, it is unfortunate that Canadian tennis fans won't get to see the likes of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 6 Novak Djokovic compete in the Toronto tournament. But on the other, Auger-Aliassime's chances of becoming the first homegrown tennis player to win the men's Canadian Open title in the Open Era have undoubtedly improved. 'I think (tournament director) Karl (Hale) and I might have a bit of a different angle here,' Auger-Aliassime, 24, joked as the draw was revealed at Sobeys Stadium on Friday in Toronto. 'Karl doesn't step on a court to play Alcaraz. So in my case, look, every tournament, it happens. You have to consider that the year is long and obviously players will have to make decisions about their schedule. But that doesn't change my goal here. Regardless if they were here or not, I'm here to compete, play and to try to win.' Auger-Aliassime is part of a trio of seeded Canadians alongside Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Dillo. It's the first time the country has three seeded players in the men's bracket at its national open. All were drawn into separate quadrants, meaning the earliest they could meet is the semifinals. They each receive first-round byes as part of the revamped ATP Masters 1000 tournament which will feature 96 players and take place over 12 days — running from Sunday through Aug. 7 — for the first time. Apart from the missing stars, a friendly draw and home crowd could help the Canadians' chances, too. 'I really feel the support that we have from Canadians, so that fills me with a lot of strength and desire to play well,' said Auger-Aliassime, who won Olympic mixed-doubles bronze alongside Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski in Paris last summer. 'It's nice to come back every time. It doesn't happen often, so I try to soak in every moment.' The 21st-seeded Auger-Aliassime, of Montreal, won't have to face a seeded opponent until at least Round 3. He is also staring down a potential fourth-round match against American No. 4 Ben Shelton and a possible quarterfinal against No. 7 Frances Tiafoe, also of the United States. Shapovalov, the Richmond Hill, Ont., native who is seeded 22nd, would have to get through a quadrant that includes No. 3 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 8 Casper Ruud to reach the semifinals. The 26-year-old comes home on a high after winning his second title of the season earlier in July at an ATP 250 event in Mexico. Denis Shapovalov of Canada defeated seventh-seeded American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-2 to win the ATP 250 event at the Cabo Sports Complex on Saturday, July 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP file photo, Eduardo Verdugo Denis Shapovalov of Canada defeated seventh-seeded American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-2 to win the ATP 250 event at the Cabo Sports Complex on Saturday, July 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP file photo, Eduardo Verdugo Montreal's Diallo, the 27th seed who won his first career title in June, shares a quadrant with No. 2 Taylor Fritz and No. 6 Andrey Rublev. Germany's Alexander Zverev is the top seed in the tournament. 'You still have to win any match that comes day after day. And then obviously if you get into the later stages and these guys aren't around, OK, maybe the draw can open up,' Auger-Aliassime said. 'But at the same time, all the players are very high quality these days, so I think anybody that wins the tournament is going to have a hard time.' One of those high-quality players is Norway's Ruud, a 13-time winner on the ATP Tour and three-time Grand Slam finalist. But after winning the Madrid Open in April, Ruud has battled injuries and underperformance, including a second-round loss at the French Open and a withdrawal from Wimbledon. 'I played last week in Gstaad and didn't go as well as I hoped. But … I came early to prepare. So I'm going to try to spend every hour on the practice court well and be ready for this upcoming hard-court swing,' he said. Likewise, Auger-Aliassime's season hasn't gone exactly as planned despite a pair of titles in January and February. He said he employed an early-season strategy that included playing more lower-level tournaments ahead of Grand Slams — but while some went well, it hasn't paid off at majors. Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., who announced he would retire after the tournament, will face a qualifier in his first-round match and potentially meet Ruud in the second round. Liam Draxl, left, and Vasek Pospisil, of Canada, react after defeating Peter Fajta and Mate Valkusz, of Hungary, in their Davis Cup qualifying tennis match in Montreal on Sunday, February 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes Liam Draxl, left, and Vasek Pospisil, of Canada, react after defeating Peter Fajta and Mate Valkusz, of Hungary, in their Davis Cup qualifying tennis match in Montreal on Sunday, February 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes At least seven Canadians will compete in the main draw — pending Saturday's qualifying — but there are no all-Canadian matchups scheduled for the first round. World No. 115 Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., will take on No. 92 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. Alexis Galarneau, the Laval, Que., native ranked 198th, meets No. 65 Arthur Rinderknech of France. Nicolas Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont.— Canada's top-ranked junior — will make his main-draw debut against 68th-ranked Serbian Laslo Djere. A Canadian man has never won the National Bank Open singles title since the Open Era began in 1968. Robert Bédard, who won his third title in 1958, is the last to accomplish the feat. Bianca Andreescu's 2019 championship marked the first for a Canadian woman since Faye Urban in 1969. Dabrowski remains the last Canadian to win on home soil, having emerged victorious in women's doubles alongside Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani in women's doubles in 2021. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025. Myles Dichter, The Canadian Press


Winnipeg Free Press
15 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Arbuckle looking to prove himself once again
TORONTO — For a few months, Nick Arbuckle's life looked a bit different. There weren't any cameras or red carpets being rolled out for a Grey Cup Most Outstanding Player, but the quiet-by-nature quarterback didn't need it. Following his championship-winning performance over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last November, Arbuckle — a career journeyman — was suddenly a recognizable face in Canada's largest metropolis. CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie says Argonauts quarterback Nick Arbuckle 'leads by example.' 'I remember taking my daughter for Happy Meals at McDonald's and somebody coming up and saying something, or going to Starbucks and people saying something,' Arbuckle, who spent last off-season in Toronto, told the Free Press Friday. It was the little things that held more weight for the product of Camarillo, Calif., a small town about an hour northwest of Los Angeles. Arbuckle, who won a Grey Cup as a backup to Bo Levi Mitchell in Calgary, hadn't been celebrated in years — not since his earlier days as a pro when many pegged him to be one of the CFL's next best quarterback talents. 'We did an assembly with the Grey Cup at my daughter's school for her show-and-tell day. So every time after that, going to pick her up from school for the entire school year, this last year, all the kids knew me as 'the football player,' and so that was pretty cool,' the 31-year-old added, pausing for a moment. 'Other than that, I think everybody moves on, especially in a city like this, where so many things happen, so many other sports teams are playing that's on people's minds, that everything we did last year, rightfully so, is part of history now.' Indeed, life has returned to what it was, and Arbuckle must prove himself again. He confessed he hasn't given the Grey Cup much thought since the few weeks of celebration that ensued. He's still to reminisce on the game — which ended 41-24 and saw him complete 26-of-37 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions — and he hadn't watched the film back until this week, in preparation of hosting the Bombers at BMO Field on Saturday (6 p.m. CT). 'It existed as a perfect memory in my brain,' he said. Those thoughts, though stored away, remain vivid. 'The most fun part is being there for an entire week, living with the team. I feel like the level of preparation and camaraderie and everything you build when you are finished practice, and instead of going to your homes, you go back to the hotel room together. And you get to do outings and go shopping and go to restaurants, basically every day of the week,' he said. 'You get to do that on day one or day two, things you don't really ever get to do unless you're on the road the day before the game. So that's the most special thing, just how much you build and how prepared you are, both mentally and emotionally, going in with your team because of just being able to spend the whole week together.' Arbuckle was confident going into the game, despite only seeing action in five regular-season contests and the second half of the Eastern Final. One of those came in Week 8 against Winnipeg, a game that was forgettable from a production standpoint for the signal-caller but one the Argos won, nonetheless. 'I was like, 'We beat them already… we've done it before, we're a better team now, and everything's more comfortable — our team's healthier.' So it just felt like it wasn't this big thing that we had to overcome,' he said. That was despite most of the country writing Toronto off, entering the game with him at the helm after starter Chad Kelly had sustained a broken fibula the week prior. Arbuckle remained even-keeled and never felt slighted. 'I understand if I were a media person and a writer, in their shoes, I'd probably be looking at it the same way,' he said. 'I try to do that with all the things, just try to look at things from other people's perspective. It helps from carrying these negative chips on your shoulders that ultimately can affect your decision-making. And, when you're a quarterback, you can't let the outside noise affect you in any kind of way.' Arbuckle — who remains under centre while Kelly continues to rehab his injury — has maintained that approach in 2025 despite the Boatmen quickly sinking near the bottom of the East Division standings, as the team has battled a slew of injuries while trying to overcome significant turnover at key positions. 'He's pretty consistent,' said Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, who also coached Arbuckle with the Stampeders. 'I mean, honestly, you go and win a Grey Cup, I think it's going to build confidence amongst the team and himself. But he's been the same guy since what I had in Calgary. 'He is a leader. Now, does he have to be the most vocal guy? I think he leads by example.' That's always been Arbuckle's style. He's not a rah-rah guy. His moments of vocal leadership are few but deliberate. 'We have some other guys on offence who have some leadership qualities, as well,' Dinwiddie added. 'Nick has his own way. He's pretty authentic with it. So I know all the guys trust Nick, and we just got to find ways to win football games and continue to build more confidence.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. At 1-5, Toronto is nearing desperation territory as it welcomes Winnipeg on Saturday night. The Bombers will be looking to right their own wrongs, but Arbuckle is trying to help breathe new life into a season before it's lost. 'It's always tough whenever you're not winning,' Arbuckle said. 'I feel like guys still understand the potential that the team has and the length and duration of this season. It's a marathon, and we have five losses now, and nobody in this league is going to miss the playoffs with five losses. 'Everything we want is still in front of us, and we control our own destiny, but there's also that sense of urgency where you can't keep taking losses, or else you're playing playoff football for two to three straight months going into the playoffs.' X: @jfreysam Joshua Frey-SamReporter Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh. Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Toronto Star
15 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Why the National Bank Open means so much to Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Canadian tennis
Richmond Hill's Denis Shapovalov, seeded 22nd for the National Bank Open in Toronto, dropped by a local tennis clinic for 15 youth players on Friday, part of the Rogers First Set program. R.J. Johnston Toronto Star Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details