Latest news with #CanadianOpen
Canada News.Net
2 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Reflective Robert MacIntyre counting memories before defense of Scottish Open
(Photo credit: Sandra Mailer-Imagn Images) Robert MacIntyre returns to the Scottish Open exasperated by the year gone by since he birdied the final hole to win his home country's national championship in North Berwick last July. But even with the condensed PGA Tour schedule -- which MacIntyre detailed as prompting the belief he can never take a week off - the Oban, Scotland, native said he's energized planting his feet on home soil to defend his tournament title. 'As a kid growing up, I watched The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and dreamed of playing in it,' he said Wednesday, 'and once I got playing in it, I'm thinking, let's win this thing. And obviously coming close. But last year, when that putt drops -- I keep watching it over and over again. I was struggling. My putting was up-and-down like a roller coaster. And when I struggle, I look at these moments, and I remember the highs when the putter does come, it really turns it on.' MacIntyre defeated Adam Scott by one stroke, making up three shots over the final five holes to extend momentum he brought to Scotland last July after winning the Canadian Open with his dad on the bag. There is a little less in the way of a positive current behind MacIntyre this week. Still, he's 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking the day before teeing it up at The Renaissance Club in arguably the headlining grouping of the first round with Scott and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (3:28 a.m. ET Thursday). 'It is surreal to know the path that I've gone on and the results that I've had,' said MacIntyre of the awe factor of coming home to take on the world's best in a spotlight tee time. 'As a kid growing up, you hit putts on putting greens to win this, win that, and I mean to actually be in the tournaments and have chances to really live the moments is all I can ask for. Whether you win it or not, it's like you've got the chance and they are special.' MacIntyre said he'll be aided by having the Scottish Open trophy on a shelf but made it clear he's planning to be aggressive, take risks and play to win again this week. 'I think the pressure is off, obviously, with me saying how much I wanted this golf tournament and we wanted to win this tournament,' MacIntyre said. 'I think the pressure is off on that side of it because I have won it now, but the expectation is not from me, (it's) from outside, the fans. No people within my team because they know it's a process and we do certain things. From the outside, the expectation is through the roof.' Beyond defending his title, motivation will not be hard to locate come Thursday. By car, MacIntyre's hometown of Oban is around a seven-hour drive to Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. This week, it's closer to three hours and under 150 miles to reach the site of the Scottish Open on Cowden Hill Drive in North Berwick. 'I want to keep this trophy every year until I stop playing. But again, I pitch up here, and I want to win,' he said. 'It's the Scottish Open, and it's my almost flagship event, I would say, after the majors. I want to win it. I hope if I don't win it, a Scottish player wins it. It's just a special, special golf tournament with an unbelievable field.' There's enough fuel and energy from the support of the home crowd this week and next for MacIntyre to keep it in high gear. Eventually, he's looking forward to taking a long break and perhaps more time for reflection. 'This season is log-jammed. If you looked at the locker room on the Sunday at the Travelers, everyone was dying to go home because it was just a long stretch. For me, I was out there 11 weeks, played 10 out of 11, was just running on empty,' MacIntyre said. 'It's such a big golf tournament; you're trying your best. It's difficult with how kind of condensed the season is now on the PGA Tour, especially. It's just log-jammed and you just feel like you can't take a week off because if you take a week off, you're going backward. It's difficult -- that side of it. But you've got to trust your schedule. You've got to trust that you're going to get your run. 'But it is very, very tiring.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Canadian Open citing fatigue
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from the WTA 1,000 Canadian Open, which begins July 27 in Montreal. Sabalenka cited fatigue following her semifinal run at Wimbledon as her reason for pulling out of the tournament, which is one rung below the Grand Slams. 'I'm looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I've decided it's in my best interest to skip Montreal,' Sabalenka said in a statement announcing her withdrawal. Sabalenka played the tournament last year, after missing the 2024 Paris Olympic tennis event which directly preceded it. She reached the quarterfinals, losing in three sets to Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. — the player who beat her in this year's Wimbledon semifinals. That defeat took her Grand Slam record for 2025 to two finals and one semifinal, but no titles, having lost the Australian Open final to Madison Keys and the French Open final to Coco Gauff. She has reached seven finals in 2025, playing 56 matches in the year to date and winning three titles. Anisimova, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Świątek in the Wimbledon final but rose to world No. 7 in the process, has herself withdrawn from the D.C. Open in Washington, D.C., which begins July 21. Defending champion Paula Badosa has also withdrawn due to a persistent injury to her lower back, so the world No. 10 will drop 500 points from her ranking. Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, who had received a wild card into the main draw, has also been removed from the player list. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Canadian Open citing fatigue
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from the WTA 1,000 Canadian Open, which begins July 27 in Montreal. Sabalenka cited fatigue following her semifinal run at Wimbledon as her reason for pulling out of the tournament, which is one rung below the Grand Slams. 'I'm looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I've decided it's in my best interest to skip Montreal,' Sabalenka said in a statement announcing her withdrawal. Sabalenka played the tournament last year, after missing the 2024 Paris Olympic tennis event which directly preceded it. She reached the quarterfinals, losing in three sets to Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. — the player who beat her in this year's Wimbledon semifinals. That defeat took her Grand Slam record for 2025 to two finals and one semifinal, but no titles, having lost the Australian Open final to Madison Keys and the French Open final to Coco Gauff. She has reached seven finals in 2025, playing 56 matches in the year to date and winning three titles. Anisimova, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Świątek in the Wimbledon final but rose to world No. 7 in the process, has herself withdrawn from the D.C. Open in Washington, D.C., which begins July 21. Defending champion Paula Badosa has also withdrawn due to a persistent injury to her lower back, so the world No. 10 will drop 500 points from her ranking. Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, who had received a wild card into the main draw, has also been removed from the player list. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Independent Singapore
3 days ago
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
'I'll miss my amazing Canadian fans' — Aryna Sabalenka skips Montreal Open after Wimbledon heartbreak, citing fatigue
Photo: Instagram/arynasabalenka According to a statement by Tennis Canada, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the WTA Canadian Open, citing fatigue. This season, the 27-year-old top-ranked athlete claimed the championship titles in Madrid and Miami. She also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and Berlin and was runner-up at both the Australian Open and French Open. With this news, Sabalenka admitted: 'I'm looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I've decided it's in my best interest to skip Montreal.' She added: 'I'll miss my amazing Canadian fans, but I'm already looking forward to seeing you all next year… Thanks for your understanding and support. It means the world to me.' Tournament director Valerie Tetreault said they were disappointed that Aryna Sabalenka would not be participating in this year's event. Other than Sabalenka, Paula Badosa of Spain, who is ranked 10th in the world, also pulled out of the tournament due to injury. The athletes' withdrawal gave opportunities for Caty McNally from the United States and Moyuka Uchijima from Japan to enter the main draw. Meanwhile, Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard announced she will retire from professional tennis after playing at the WTA event in Montreal–her hometown. The 31-year-old athlete once ranked World No. 5. Her best playing year was 2014, when she had best results at each of the Grand Slam tournaments–she reached the Wimbledon final and made it to the semifinals at both the Australian Open and the French Open. She advanced to the fourth round of the US Open as well. Sabalenka's 2025 Wimbledon loss At the recently concluded Wimbledon tournament, Aryna Sabalenka admitted that she was disappointed after being defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by Amanda Anisimova in the semifinals. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam where the top-ranked athlete hasn't reached the final. In the past five years, she has lost in the semifinals three times. With this, Sabalenka stated that losing feels like she ' doesn't want to exist any more. ' The athlete said: ' Losing sucks… You always feel like you want to die, you don't want to exist any more, and this is the end of your life… Every time you compete at that tournament, and you get to the last stages, you think you're getting close to your dream. Then you lose the match, and you feel like, 'okay, this is the end.'' Read more about Aryna Sabalenka's 2025 Wimbledon defeat here. () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
Canada News.Net
3 days ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Canadian Open
(Photo credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images) World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has decided not to play in the Canadian Open, citing fatigue. The WTA 1000-level tournament begins July 27 in Montreal. 'I'm looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I've decided it's in my best interest to skip Montreal,' Sabalenka said in a statement. On the season, Sabalenka is 47-9, with her 56 matches the most of any player in the Top 50. Paula Badosa of Spain also withdrew because of a lower-back injury, and three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won't play as she takes a break from the tour. Sabalenka, 27, of Belarus, played in the Canadian Open in 2024, losing to Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals. Anisimova defeated Sabalenka last week in the semifinals at Wimbledon in three sets.
