The 2026 Canadian Open has suffered another setback, with two more players added to a withdrawal list that keeps growing as the event approaches.

The combined ATP-WTA 1000 tournament opens the second half of the season and will be played from 1 August to 13 August. The men’s draw is set for Montreal, while the women’s competition will take place in Toronto.

It is also the opening stop in the North American summer sequence that includes the Cincinnati Open and the US Open later in August. With that stretch still to come, players are clearly being forced to manage their schedules carefully and protect any lingering problems as they aim to arrive in New York in peak condition.

On the women’s side, the list of absentees has already taken a significant toll. Victoria Mboko will not defend her title after the 19-year-old suffered a serious knee injury during the Queen’s Club Championship, which also ruled her out of Wimbledon and her home event in Quebec. Emma Raducanu joined the absentees last week, sidelined by a stress fracture in her right leg, with no clear return date and no place in Cincinnati either.

Two Grand Slam finalists have now also withdrawn. Karolina Muchova, who reached the Wimbledon final only a little over a week ago, is recovering after what she described as a “small surgery”. She explained, “I had to undergo a small surgery that will keep me off the court for a few weeks. Everything went well, and I’m already working on my recovery,” the world No 6 wrote on social media.

Jasmine Paolini is the latest player to step away, citing a foot injury. “Unfortunately, I’ve decided to withdraw from Washington and Toronto so I can give my foot extra time to rest,” said the Italian, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals earlier in July.

On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz remains the biggest absence as he continues recovering from the wrist injury he picked up at the Barcelona Open in July. Novak Djokovic’s participation is also uncertain; the former world No 1, a four-time Canadian Open champion, last appeared at the event in 2018.

Jannik Sinner’s serve has long been viewed as a major part of his rise to the top of the men’s game, yet the numbers from the past year tell a more complicated story.

The world No 1 adjusted his service motion shortly before he began establishing himself as a leading force on the ATP Tour, and that weapon stood out again when he defended his Wimbledon title earlier this month.

After losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz last September, Sinner made it clear that he wanted more variety and consistency on serve. His own words at the time showed how deliberate that change was:

“I can say that I’m gonna become a better tennis player and I’m gonna change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but, they can make big differences and then we see how it goes,” said Sinner. after that defeat against Alcaraz in New York.

“I’m looking forward to play these matches again, something new is now that I’m not No 1 anymore. Now you chase, it’s different.

“Maybe I will lose some matches from now on, but I will try to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”

Even with his strong recent run, the ATP Tour figures for the last 12 months show that there is still work to be done in one area. Sinner ranks 35th in first serve percentage at 63.8%, well behind Alexander Zverev, who leads the list at 72.5%.

The Italian, however, is far more dominant once the first serve lands. He leads the tour in service points won at 80.9%, just ahead of Reilly Opelka on 80.8% and Taylor Fritz on 79.7%.

He also tops service games won at 92.9%, underlining how difficult he is to break. Opelka follows on 90.6%, with Ben Shelton third at 90.4% and Alcaraz at 89.9%.

One remaining area is ace production. Sinner is 27th in that category with an average of 8.2 per match, while Opelka leads with 18.5, followed by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on 15.1 and Fritz on 14.1.

Carlos Alcaraz’s trip to the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina produced more than one talking point, but the wrist support on his right arm stood out most for tennis followers.

His animated celebration after Spain’s 1-0 victory in an underwhelming final was caught on camera, and the clip spread rapidly once it appeared on social media accounts. Before the match, Alcaraz was also seen on the pitch with the trophy, which he was entrusted to carry onto the field at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

That public appearance has renewed attention on his recovery and on whether he will be ready to defend a title he currently holds, with the US Open now just over a month away.

Alcaraz suffered the wrist problem at the Barcelona Open in April and quickly withdrew from both the French Open and Wimbledon. Recent footage of his recovery has suggested that he remains well short of match readiness. A separate suggestion that he might return at next month’s Cincinnati Open, where he is the defending champion, followed soon after, but the World Cup final images showed he still needs support on the wrist even away from tennis.

For fans hoping to see him back for the final Grand Slam of 2026, that was hardly an encouraging sight.

Thanasi Kokkinakis, who has dealt with his own share of injury setbacks, urged caution in any comeback. “Wrist injuries are tough and they can be the worst for a tennis player,” Kokkinakis told Tennis365. “We all want to get back as quickly as possible, but you have to be careful not to rush it.”

Kokkinakis also addressed comparisons between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and the wider discussion around the ‘Big 3’.

“I have played them all and I don’t feel personally like the ‘Big 3’ back in the day were any better than these two we’ve got now,” declared Kokkinakis.

“
I think tennis is always evolving. Of course, I would still say playing Nadal on clay is still the toughest challenge, but what Roger, Rafa and Novak did back in the day and what Alcaraz and Sinner are doing now, it’s amazing.

“It’s hard to pick who is the toughest to play against. Obviously, Djokovic has got all the records, but I think any one of those five on their day can beat anyone.”