Jannik Sinner is taking a few more days to return to competition after the hardships of Wimbledon. But that's not the case for his rival in the All England Club final, Alex Zverev. In the absence of Carlos Alcaraz—back in practice but still sidelined with a wrist injury—and Novak Djokovic, the German will be the clear favorite in the Montreal tournament, which kicks off the scorching season on the American hard courts. After warming up with the ATP 500 in Washington, the two Masters 1000 events in the Canadian city and Cincinnati are packed into a month, before a brief break to catch his breath ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year in the Big Apple, the US Open.

In the absence of the world and Italian number one, the Italian squad will be led by Flavio Cobolli, the sixth seed, with Lorenzo Musetti as the 12th seed. The Roman player will need to rediscover his playing skills on hard courts after months of absence and will seek confirmation after a season that saw him firmly establish himself among the best on both clay and grass. The Carrara native, however, returned to the tour after an injury at the Italian Open in May, where he lost in three sets in the quarterfinals to rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar. On the Quebec hard courts, he will primarily seek consistency, given his already good physical condition.

Also starting in the second round thanks to a bye will be Luciano Darderi (seeded 20th) and Matteo Arnaldi (seeded 32nd), who reached the semifinals in Montreal two years ago. Given its placement, which forces many of the big names to take a breather—with Sinner missing out on a Masters 1000 title for the first time this year—the Canadian tournament is by its very nature very open to surprises: in the last six years, as many different players have won, including Ben Shelton, Alexei Popyrin, and Pablo Carreno Busta, all three reaching career highs. And despite Zverev's desire to win it for the second time, nine years after his first, the finals will be very open this year as well, with a few other Italians trying to make their way, especially considering Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, who is determined to make a splash at his home tournament, where he exited in the second round last year.

Other players, however, are trying to regain their place in the sun, like Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek, despite his success in Gstaad, was nevertheless forced to qualify to qualify for the main draw. He succeeded, as did Australian Popyrin, far from the form that led him to the title just two years ago. Meanwhile, the now 36-year-old Japanese player Kei Nishikori failed to make it.

(Unioneonline)

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