Since 2025, the Masters 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati have been expanded to last 12 days, rather than one week.
And for the second year running, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have all skipped the Canadian Open.
In their absence, Alexander Zverev is the top seed and heavy title favourite. But the German does not believe he will play his “best tennis” in Montreal this fortnight, and instead is building for Cincinnati and the US Open.
The French Open champion also addressed Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic’s absences, and said: “I think it’s the second or third year in a row that there’s no Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic. I think that’s just a result of the two-week Masters event. I think it’s just too long for some players, too much before the US Open.
“I also used to play more tournaments. I used to play more 500 events, 250 events when the Masters were shorter, but now I don’t do that anymore just because of time spent away and time spent on tournaments.
“But, yeah, I mean, I need to play matches. I need to play tournaments. I don’t think maybe I’ll play my best tennis here, but the result of me playing here, I think I’ll play better in Cincinnati and then hopefully my best tennis in New York.”