Major blow for Canadian Open: Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic withdraw as Jack Draper out until US Open

The Canadian Open is the next big tournament on the ATP Calendar albeit many of the top names have withdrawn on Sunday afternoon with Jack Draper, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner all out in one fell swoop.

This leaves unless he withdraws Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz as the leading lights in Toronto in a situation that no doubt the tournament organisers will not be best pleased about.

On the surface, Djokovic doesn't tend to play this event anyway and in fact when he was confirmed on the initial Entry List last week, he was there after a seven year absence. But he has decided not to return to the tournament that he has won four-times over the years.

WIth doubts about his future it will make those in Canada wonder if Djokovic will ever play again in the tournament and also whether he plans to play Cincinnati or whether it will just be straight into Flushing Meadows in a months time.

Sinner lifted the trophy the last time the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 was held in Toronto in 2023. It has flipped to Montreal as of late with the WTA tournament playing the opposite so they are in Montreal this year.

Sinner though lifted his second major title of the year just a week ago at Wimbledon and has played intensely since his return to action in Rome in May. He was banned for most of the year from after the Australian Open due to a doping ban for the use of Clostebol.

But he returned on home turf and reached the Roland Garros final before writing the prior wrongs and winning Wimbledon.

Alcaraz and Zverev are joined by other top 10 stars in Fritz as well as Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune. Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime also form part of the field from July 27 to August 7 in Toronto.

Draper out until New York

Draper compared to just managing their calendar is to do with injury. The British World No.4 wrote on social media that he is out of both Cincinnati and Canada.

"After Wimbledon I picked up an injury in my left arm, nothing serious, but I have to make sure it recovers fully for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to compete in Toronto and Cincinnati…. See you in NYC!"

He has to defend a semi-final run at the US Open and is also currently trying to make the ATP Finals and with minimal tournaments apart from in Asia towards the tail end of the year to make it to Turin, he faces an uphill battle.

Draper may still have to do as Alcaraz did previously and play tournaments such as Shanghai in order to try and make it with the Spaniard previously doing so to become World No.1 over reaching Turin.

But it is perhaps a tad bit concerning that a minor arm injury has manifested itself into a period on the sidelines. He was dumped out of Wimbledon in the second round by Marin Cilic.

Last year saw Alexei Popyrin defeat Andrey Rublev to seal the title. He saw off Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 to win the title. It was his first Masters 1000 and third career ATP title. He saved three match points en route in his match against Grigor Dimitrov.

He became the first to win a Masters 1000 since Lleyton Hewitt from Australia and was also the second lowest ranked singles champion at World No.62. Sinner was defending champion but lost to Rublev in the Quarter-Finals. For the first time since Paris 2012, it was also the first event where three unseeded players reached the semi-finals of the same Masters 1000 in what was a seedageddon type scenario.