Last Updated on August 4, 2023 4:50 pm by Erwin Noguera
One of the major preparatory tournaments for the US Open begins to see action from August 7 to 13, when Toronto hosts the 2023 National Bank Open, which is a Masters 1000 category.
National Bank Open 2023 – Info
In last year’s edition, the tournament awarded USD 915,000 to the champion, who was the Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta, who defeated the Polish Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Carreño Busta beat the Italian Jannik Sinner in the round of 16, the British Jack Draper in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals he defeated the also English Daniel Evans. This has been his most important title.
The Canadian Masters 1000 will be 15 days before the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year, so it has a hard surface and will award 1,000 points to the champion, who for now has a big favorite.
National Bank Open 2023 – Favorites
The best seeded player in the competition is the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who comes from being champion at Wimbledon, getting the second major of his short career. In a great match, the current world number 1 defeated Novak Djokovic by 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-4, who has become his great rival this year to win the most important tournaments in the world. Another aspect that makes the 20-year-old Spaniard a favorite is that he is the current US Open champion, so the hard surface suits him well. The Iberian tennis player has won six titles this year and has a 47-4 record.
After Alcaraz, the other racquet that catches the eye is the Russian Daniil Medvedev, world number 3 and who won the US Open in 2021 on his resume, so he is well suited to the type of floor that Toronto presents.
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The Russian was already champion in Canada in 2021, beating American Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-3 in the final, while this year he was champion at the Miami Masters 1000 and lost the final in Rome. In major tournaments in 2023 his best role was the Wimbledon semifinals.
The 27-year-old Russian has won five titles so far this year, with a record of 46 wins and 9 losses.
In the list of candidates, the third favorite is the Norwegian Casper Ruud, fourth in the world and who this year was a finalist at Roland Garros. An important point for the European is that he was a finalist at the U.S. Open and in 2023 he reached the semifinals in Rome, although this tournament is on clay.
Although Denis Shapovalov will not be able to compete, there are other important names that can try to win, such as the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Danish Holger Rune, the Russian Andrey Rublev and the Italian Jannik Sinner.
Among the locals, the most important is Felix Auger-Aliassime, 22 years old and 12th in the world. But his year has not been the best and he has just lost in the first round of the Washington ATP with Yosuke Watanuki.
Spaniard Carreño Busta will not be able to repeat his title, as he withdrew and his place was taken by JJ Wolf. Another player who will not be present is the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who claimed fatigue for not participating in the Canadian tournament.
Prize
The Masters champion will get 1000 points, the runner-up will get 600 and for reaching the semifinals each player will get 360.
The US Open will start on August 28 and the great favorites that will compete in Canada will be present in the United States, since it is the best preparation tournament for the last Grand Slam in 2023.
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