After a nearly three-year wait, the National Bank Open presented by Rogers makes its official return at full capacity and will once again welcome fans in Montreal. To mark the occasion, the event will have the privilege of presenting exceptional draws, as the vast majority of the members of the ATP Top 50 are slated to compete!
As the tournament, which takes place from August 5 to 14 at IGA Stadium, approaches, we will be highlighting some players to watch this summer as the best in men’s tennis arrive in Montreal.
CAMERON NORRIE
Age: 26 Current Ranking: 13 Career-High: 10 (April 4, 2022)
NBO Appearance: 3rd Best NBO Result: Second round (1: 2019) Most Recent NBO Result: First round (2021)
2022 Record: 32-16 Career NBO Record: 1-2
Cameron Norrie achieved a career-high ranking of no. 10 in April, joining Tim Henman, Andy Murray, and Greg Rusedski as the fourth Brit to break into the Top 10. He earned 52 wins last season and was crowned champion in Indian Wells. More recently, he reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in front of his home fans at Wimbledon.
He will be making his second appearance in Montreal after reaching the second round in 2019.
Born in South Africa, Norrie grew up in New Zealand, became a No. 1 collegiate player in the United States at Texas Christian University, and has represented Great Britain since 2013.
CASPER RUUD
Age: 23 Current Ranking: 6 Career-High: 5 (June 13, 2022)
NBO Appearance: 2nd Best NBO Result: Quarter-finalist (1: 2021) Most Recent NBO Result: Quarter-finalist (2021)
2022 Record: 35-13 Career NBO Record: 2-1
Casper Ruud is the first Norwegian player to crack the Top 10 on the ATP Tour rankings, the first to win an ATP title and the first to reach a Grand Slam final, a feat he accomplished at Roland-Garros in June. A former World No. 1 junior, the 23-year-old leads the ATP Tour in clay-court wins, tournament finals, and titles since the start of the 2020 season.
Ruud will be playing in Montreal for the first time this summer. He reached the quarter-finals in Toronto last year during his maiden appearance on Canadian soil.
Ruud’s father Christian is a former tennis player who achieved a career-high ranking of no. 39. If Casper wasn’t a tennis player, he would be a pilot. He enjoys golfing and watching hockey. His favourite team is the Tampa Bay Lightning.
ANDREY RUBLEV
Age: 24 Current Ranking: 8 Career-High: 5 (September 13, 2021)
NBO Appearance: 4th Best NBO Result: Round of 16 (1: 2021) Most Recent NBO Result: Round of 16 (2021)
2022 Record: 32-11 Career NBO Record: 1-2
A former World No. 1 junior, Rublev broke into the Top 5 on the ATP Tour rankings for the first time in 2021. He led the tour with five titles in 2020 and tied with Novak Djokovic for the tour lead in match victories with 41 that same year. He’s also reached five Grand Slam quarter-finals and won a gold medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Rublev will be making his fourth appearance at the National Bank Open this summer and will be looking to get past the Round of 16 for the first time. In addition to tennis, Rublev likes boxing and playing basketball. He’s a big fan of the Golden State Warriors.
Jannik Sinner
Age: 20 Current Ranking: 10 Career-High: 9 (November 1, 2021)
NBO Appearance: 2nd Best NBO Result: 2nd round (1: 2021) Most Recent NBO Result: 2nd round (2021)
2022 Record: 31-9 Career NBO Record: 0-1
Jannik Sinner, Italy’s top player, finished the 2021 season as the youngest player ranked inside the Top 10 at age 20. As a 19-year-old in 2021, he became the first teenager to win an ATP 500 title in Washington and became the first Italian finalist in the 37-year tournament history of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami the same year.
Sinner will be playing at IGA Stadium for the first time in a few weeks and will definitely be a player to watch during the tournament.
He was a champion skier in Italy from the age of 8 to 12 and still enjoys skiing in the offseason. Not surprisingly, his favourite food is pizza.
Denis Shapovalov
Age: 23 Current Ranking: 21 Career-High: 10 (September 21, 2020)
NBO Appearance: 6th Best NBO Result: Semifinalist (1: 2017) Most Recent NBO Result: 2nd round (2021)
2022 Record: 17-15 Career NBO Record: 8-5
Denis Shapovalov became the second Canadian to break into the Top 10, following in the footsteps of Milos Raonic. He defeated Andy Murray en route to his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year. He captured his maiden ATP title at Stockholm in 2019 and led Canada to the Davis Cup Final that same year.
The 23-year-old earned the most famous victory of his career in Montreal in 2017 when he upset Rafael Nadal to advance to the semifinals of the National Bank Open as an 18-year-old. It will go down as one of the most memorable matches in tournament history.
Denis launched ShapoShelter in April of this year, which highlights stories of dogs and cats in need. He also enjoys rapping and has actually released two songs.
CARLOS ALCARAZ
Age: 19 Current Ranking: 6 Career-High: 6 (May 9, 2022)
NBO Appearance: 1st Best NBO Result: First appearance Most Recent NBO Result: First appearance
2022 Record: 35-5 Career NBO Record: 0-0
Carlos Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm since bursting onto the scene in 2021. The 19-year-old Spaniard became the youngest ATP Tour champion since 2008 when he won Umag last year. He’s the third-youngest ATP Masters 1000 champion in history and the second-youngest player to win two ATP Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid in 2022.
He’ll be looking to capture his third Masters 1000 trophy of the season when he visits Montreal for the first time in August.
Alcaraz is coached by his compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero who became World No. 1 shortly after his charge was born in 2003. Carlos likes listening to reggaeton music and his favourite movie is Rocky Balboa.
FéliX AUGER-ALIASSIME
Age: 21 Current Ranking: 9 Career-High: 9 (January 10, 2022)
NBO Appearance: 5th Best NBO Result: Round of 16 (1: 2019) Most Recent NBO Result: 2nd round (2021)
2022 Record: 30-17 Career NBO Record: 3-3
Félix Auger-Aliassime returns to his hometown as a Top 10 player and will, without a doubt, be the biggest crowd favourite at IGA Stadium.
At the U.S. Open last year, the 21-year-old reached his first Grand Slam semifinal. He was also a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2021 and at the Australian Open in January. He also won his first ATP title at Rotterdam in February after coming up short in his nine previous final appearances.
Beginning August 7, he’ll be looking to improve on his Round of 16 showing the last time he played in Montreal in 2019.
Félix shares a birthday with his idol Roger Federer, and he also loves playing the piano.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Age: 23 Current Ranking: 4 Career-High: 3 (August 9, 2021)
NBO Appearance: 4th Best NBO Result: Finalist (1: 2018) Most Recent NBO Result: Semifinalist (2021)
2022 Record: 42-14 Career NBO Record: 8-3
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top-ranked Greek player of all time. The 23-year-old achieved a career-high ranking of no. 3 for the first time in 2021. He reached his first Grand Slam final at Roland-Garros last year. When he won the Nitto ATP Finals in 2019, he became the youngest champion of the prestigious season finale since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.
Tsitsipas will be making just his second appearance in Montreal this summer and has yet to win a match at IGA Stadium. He was Toronto’s finalist in 2018 and a semifinalist last year.
Stefanos’ three younger siblings also play tennis. His grandfather, Sergei, won a gold medal in football at the 1956 Olympic Games. Did you know he shares a birthday with former World No. 1 Pete Sampras, who is also of Greek origin?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV
Age: 26 Current Ranking: 1 Career-High: 1 (February 28, 2022)
NBO Appearance: 5th Best NBO Result: Champion (1: 2021) Most Recent NBO Result: Champion (2021)
2022 Record: 27-10 Career NBO Record: 11-3
Did you know that Daniil Medvedev is the tallest World No. 1 in history at 6’6”? He’s also the first player not named Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, or Murray to hold the top spot since Andy Roddick in 2004.
A four-time Grand Slam finalist, the 26-year-old captured his first Major in New York last year at the U.S. Open. A few weeks prior to that breakthrough performance, he was crowned champion of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto. He also finished as the runner up to Rafael Nadal in Montreal in 2019.
Medvedev has competed in national competitions for video games. He also loves playing chess and poker. He speaks three languages, including French which means that he feels right at home when he visits ‘la belle province’.
RAFAEL NADAL
Age: 36 Current Ranking: 3 Career-High: 1 (August 18, 2018)
NBO Appearance: 14th Best NBO Result: Champion (5: 2005, 2018, 2013, 2018, 2019) Most Recent NBO Result: Champion (2019)
2022 Record: 35-3 Career NBO Record: 38-8
Rafael Nadal is a five-time champion of our Canadian stop on the ATP Tour, including the last two times he played the event in 2018 and 2019.
The formidable Spaniard has won two of the first three Grand Slams this season to become the all-time leader with 22 Major titles, including a record 14 titles at Roland-Garros. In 2022, he became the oldest champion in the tournament’s rich history. He’s also the only men’s player to complete the career Grand Slam twice and win two Olympic gold medals.
Nadal comes from an athletic family. His uncle, Miguel Angel, played football for FC Barcelona, Real Mallorca, and the Spanish national team. Rafa and his wife, Maria Francisca Perello, are expecting their first child in the coming months.
