Monday will see the main draw of the prestigious Canadian Open get underway. Unlike other tournaments on the calendar, the women’s and men’s tournaments are held at the same time, but in different locations. This year the women head to Toronto and the men will play in Montreal.
The tournament will see the return of Serena Williams for the first time since 2015. Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka will be hoping to regain some momentum after a below-par grass season. In the men’s draw, player’s are hoping to capitalize on the absence of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with a deep run. Both of those players have chosen to withdraw in order to have a longer rest period.
With a lot of action set to take place over the next seven days, here are four topics to follow.
Nadal looks to make his mark
For a player regarded as one of the greatest of all time, hard court tennis hasn’t been easy going for Rafael Nadal in recent months. In fact, over the past 20 months he has only won one event on the surface. That was at the Rogers Cup 12 months ago in Toronto. During this period the Spaniard has been troubled by numerous injury issues, but has still managed to continue his reputation of the king of clay. Winning six titles, including two grand slams, on the dirt.
As the only member of the Big Three entering this year’s draw, Nadal is a heavy favourite to defend his title and win the tournament for the fifth time in his career. This year will be his 13th appearance and he currently boasts a win-loss record of 34-8 at the event.
“When I get to a tournament, I try to work on my things and work on my game. It doesn’t matter whether Novak or Roger are here or not here,” Nadal told atptour.com. “There are many great players here, so I have to just prepare myself as soon as possible and be ready for the action.”
As for how his body will cope during the North American hard-court swing, the 33-year-old has played down any concerns. Nadal has withdrawn or retired from three out of his past six tournaments that was played on hard court’s.
“If I’m thinking about this stuff when I play tennis, I cannot play tennis,” he said. “I’m thinking about the ball, the opponent and what I have to do to play my best. I’m not worried. If something happens, then I will accept it and that’s it. I’m not putting more emphasis on it because when you think negatively, there’s more of a chance that things can happen.”
Nadal’s opening match will be far from simple. Granted a bye in the first round he will play either Alex de Mianur or Daniel Evans. Two players who have already posted strong results on the tour. De Minaur defeated Taylor Fritz to win the Atlanta Open just over a week ago. Meanwhile, Evans’ has the potential to trouble any top player if he is on his game. The Brit has already won two matches in qualifying to reach the main draw.
