The 2025 Canadian Open saw an unusual absence of top players, a pattern the tournament director says should change in 2026. World No 1 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were among several high-profile players who did not feature, joined by Novak Djokovic and world No 5 Jack Draper, as many opted for an extended break after Wimbledon.

Reigning world No 3 Alexander Zverev became the top seed for the event, with Taylor Fritz seeded No 2 and Lorenzo Musetti No 3. In that depleted field, fourth seed Ben Shelton won the title, defeating Karen Khachanov in the final to capture his maiden Masters 1000 trophy.

The Canadian Open has now suffered heavy withdrawals for two years running. In 2024, Alcaraz, Djokovic and other leading players missed the event because of the Paris Olympics. Tournament Director Karl Hale said organisers are actively seeking a different outcome for 2026.

“Losing the top players is not something we desire,” he said on the Nothing Major Podcast with John Isner. “I believe Carlos and Jannik should consider our circuit, the ATP, and commit to playing.

“We are in talks with them to ensure they participate next year. In 2026, there will be three weeks between Wimbledon and Montreal. This year there were only two. That’s a significant change.”

Player workload and the length of the season were cited repeatedly as reasons for withdrawals. After his second-round win at the Cincinnati Open, Alcaraz addressed the issue directly.

“I love having time for me if I have to be honest. I always say that’s what you are working for as well, you know?” he said on the Tennis Channel.

“Okay, I love playing tennis and I love when I step on the court, but sometimes it’s too many days in a row, too many weeks in a row. So I just love to take my time off just with my family, with my friends, just at home, doing nothing at all.”

Hale acknowledged broader calendar concerns. “The calendar has a problem: it’s too long. There are many 250 and 500 tournaments. The Saudi tournament is upcoming, and soon they will announce its schedule and duration,” he added. “When Sinner and Alcaraz withdrew this year, we spoke with them and said, ‘Okay, in 2026 you will be in Montreal. Ensure that happens’. I’m confident they will be there next year, with the bonuses we offer and the three weeks between tournaments.”

It is rare to witness such clear improvement across weeks at the highest level. At the National Bank Open in Montreal and Toronto two young players, 18-year-old Victoria Mboko and 22-year-old Ben Shelton, elevated their games round after round and did not stop until each had a 1000-level title.

Mboko’s run in Montreal carried the urgency of a storybook week. A wild card in her first WTA 1000 event, she began 2025 largely unknown outside the ITF circuit. She left with victories over Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka, and a leap from No. 85 to No. 24. Mboko is now the highest-ranked Canadian on either tour, ahead of No. 26 Leylah Fernandez, No. 28 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 30 Denis Shapovalov and No. 35 Gabriel Diallo.

Her game showed new power and reliability. She led the tournament in aces, traded heavy shots with Rybakina and Osaka, and repeatedly recovered from slow starts. On handling first-set deficits she said, “When I kind of go into the match, I always think of sets as, like, checkpoints,” and “I kind of try to switch my mindset as much as possible and kind of switch up how I go about things when I’m playing the match. I think whenever I play the second set, I feel like I put a lot more emphasis in my movement and my defending skills and what I’m supposed to do on court, and I try to sharpen up and clean up a lot of my mistakes.”

Osaka acknowledged the week’s emotion: “Thanks, I guess,” and later, “This morning I was very grateful. I don’t know why my emotions flipped so quickly, but I’m really happy to have played the final. I think Victoria played really well. I completely forgot to congratulate her on the court. Yeah, I mean, she did really amazing.”

Shelton’s title in Toronto was different in tone but equal in consequence. He showed a more complete game than in his early years, surviving three third-set tiebreakers and beating Top 10 opponents Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur. Two passages in the final crystallized his week: a rally of drop shots and backhand winners to turn a set, and an opening run in the third-set tiebreak. Shelton credited a tactical shift: “Karen was bullying me around the court,” and described moving forward to redirect and flip momentum. “It’s been a long week,” Shelton said. “Not an easy path, not an easy week by any means. I was clutch, I was resilient, a lot of qualities that I like to see in myself.”

Shelton could break into the Top 5 after Cincinnati with a deep run at the Masters 1000 event.

Jannik Sinner remains entrenched at the top of the ATP Rankings, marking his 61st consecutive week at No. 1 following the surge that began in June 2024. His advantage is substantial: Carlos Alcaraz sits 3,440 points behind in second and Alexander Zverev a further 2,210 points back in third. Taylor Fritz holds fourth and Jack Draper fifth, with the top five otherwise unchanged this week.

The headline movement came at the National Bank Open in Montreal, where Ben Shelton claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. With Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper absent from the draw, the field opened up for a first-time Masters winner and Shelton capitalized. The American defeated ninth seed Alex de Minaur, second seed Taylor Fritz and 11th seed Karen Khachanov in his final three matches.

Shelton began the tournament at a career-high No. 7 and, after earning 800 points for his title run, moved up one place to No. 6. Djokovic dropped one spot as a result. Khachanov, who has a career high of No. 8, rose four places to No. 12 after finishing runner-up.

Shelton’s position is notable because he has only 200 points to defend at the Cincinnati Open, making further upward movement possible. Current No. 5 Jack Draper will not play in Ohio because of injury, and Novak Djokovic will not feature as he opted to take an extended break after Wimbledon. Those absences create opportunities for players near the top to shift positions over the coming weeks.

Sinner will face pressure on the points table later this summer: he is due to drop 3,000 points that reflect his title runs at the 2024 Cincinnati Open (1,000 points) and US Open (2,000 points) a year ago. Other notable movements this week include Alexei Popyrin up seven places to No. 19 and Sebastian Korda slipping 12 places to No. 42 after not competing in Montreal.

Current top 20 (points):

1. Jannik Sinner – 12,030
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 8,590
3. Alexander Zverev – 6,380
4. Taylor Fritz – 5,525
5. Jack Draper – 4,650
6. Ben Shelton – 4,320
7. Novak Djokovic – 4,130
8. Alex de Minaur – 3,480
9. Holger Rune – 3,340
10. Lorenzo Musetti – 3,235
11. Andrey Rublev – 3,210
12. Karen Khachanov – 3,190
13. Casper Ruud – 2,995
14. Frances Tiafoe – 2,890
15. Daniil Medvedev – 2,760
16. Tommy Paul – 2,610
17. Jakub Mensik – 2,396
18. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – 2,275
19. Alexei Popyrin – 2,250
20. Arthur Fils – 2,180.