On Sunday, the Canadian Open, also known as the National Bank Open, kicked off a masters tournament for men and a WTA 1000 for women.
The tournament takes place in parallel in Montreal and Toronto, alternating each year between the men’s and women’s events. In 2022, the men will play in Montreal and the women in Toronto.
Casper Ruud seeded number four
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal pulled out shortly before the draw was announced and with Alexander Zverev injured, Casper Ruud is the fourth seed.
The Norwegian has a first-round bye and will meet the winner of Alex Molcan (ATP 39) and Mackenzie McDonalds (ATP 48) in the second round.
The first seed in Montreal is world number one Daniil Medvedev, who is also the defending champion. The second seed is Spanish shooting star Carlos Alcaraz.
Other interesting names on the board include Andy Murray, Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka (PR), Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner.
Ruud has a good chance of reaching the semi-finals as the highest ranked players he can face in the third round are Roberto Bautista Agut (ATP 18) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (ATP 9).
World number one Daniil Medvedev is most likely waiting for a possible semi-final.
Eikeri will defend a quarter-final spot from last year
Ulrikke Eikeri (WTA Double 42) competes in doubles with American Catherine Harrison (WTA Double 75). The American-Norwegian duo reached the quarter-finals in Canada last year, which is Eikeri’s best result in a WTA 1000.
In the first round, the sixth seed meets Jelena Ostapenko (WTA 17/WTA Doubles 14) and Lyudmyla Kichenok (WTA Doubles 16).
“Tv guru. Analyst. Lifelong alcohol junkie. Friendly bacon specialist. Twitter nerd.”
