Notable Absences at the Toronto Masters 1000: Alcaraz, the Big Favorite
The Toronto Masters 1000, which will be held from July 27 to August 7 on hard court, will suffer significant absences that reconfigure the expectations of the tournament. The absence of the world number one, the Italian Jannik Sinner, and that of the legendary Novak Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, are the most notable. To these is added that of the British Jack Draper.
These absences place Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, currently number two in the world, as the main contender for the title. German Alexander Zverev, champion in 2017, also emerges as a strong contender.
Jannik Sinner, defending the title obtained in 2023, and Novak Djokovic, who has conquered the tournament on four occasions (the last in 2016), will not be present in this edition. The Australian Alexei Popyrin is the current champion, and the Spaniard Pablo Carreño won it in 2022.
The Canadian Masters 1000 is a tournament that, until now, has eluded Carlos Alcaraz, who recently was crowned champion of Roland Garros and reached the Wimbledon final this season. In addition to Alcaraz and Zverev, other prominent players such as the American Taylor Fritz, the Italian Lorenzo Musetti and the Dane Holger Rune, along with locals Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, promise a tournament full of excitement.
Roberto Carballés (Spain), Sebastian Ofner (Austria) and Roman Safiullin (Russia) will take the places left by Sinner, Djokovic and Draper in Toronto.
Alcaraz, who reached the quarterfinals two seasons ago in Canada, has the opportunity to cut important points in the world ranking. The tennis player from Murcia did not participate in the previous edition, so he has no points to defend on this occasion. Sinner, for his part, reached the quarterfinals in 2024.
