Alex Mann is back with his take on This Week in Tennis (32). He will give his predictions for the Canadian Masters (ATP and WTA 1000).
Before we get into Alex’ Canadian Masters predictions, we will summarize another exciting week of tennis (31).
Kyrgios and Medvedev winners
This week saw men’s world number 1, Daniil Medvedev, lift his first trophy of the season, beating Cameron Norrie in Los Cabos, Mexico.
It was a tough opening set, which saw both players break one another before Medvedev took the advantage, narrowly winning 7-5.
Medvedev went from strength to strength as Norrie struggled to break through the Russian’s mesmerizing defensive capabilities, winning the second set 6-0.
This win will give Medvedev confidence as he enters this week’s Masters 1000 title in Montreal, Canada, where he is the defending champion.
Nick Kyrgios continued his impressive form at Wimbledon on the hard courts of Washington, DC, as he won the Citi Open by defeating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Before Kyrgios’ win this week, his last ATP singles title was also at the Citi Open in 2019.
Samsonova and Kasatkina’s impressive run
In the women’s final, Ludmilla Samsonova came from a set down to beat Kaia Kanepi and lift her second WTA Tour level title.
Daria Kasatkina defeated Shelby Rogers to win the Silicon Valley Classic.
The Russian defeated top ten players, Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka along the way, as well as the newly crowned Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina.
She will now rise to a career-high of number 9 in the WTA singles rankings.
This past week also saw the return of Naomi Osaka for the first time since this year’s French Open. Osaka reached the second round of the Silicon Valley Classic before losing to Coco Guaff.
This week’s action on the tennis tour takes us to Canada for the ATP and WTA Masters 1000 events.
Canadian Masters events
Serena and Venus Williams are returning to the WTA tour, as they have entered this week’s tournament in Canada.
The 5-time Canadian Open champion, Rafael Nadal, will not be competing as he has withdrawn from this year’s tournament.
Canadian Open (ATP and WTA 1000)
The Canadian Open is one of the oldest lawn tennis tournaments in the world, with the first edition of the event occurring in 1881.
On the men’s side, Ivan Lendl holds the record for the most singles titles with 6. Lois Moyes Bickle won a record 10 women’s singles titles between 1906 and 1924.
This year the men’s event is being held in Montreal, while the women’s event is located in Toronto.
The defending champion, Daniil Medvedev, leads the men’s event and will be tough to beat but could face in-form Nick Kyrgios in the second round.
World number 4, Carlos Alcaraz is this year’s second seed as world number 3 and 4, Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal are not competing.
The young Spaniard will look to win his second hard-court Masters title of the year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, and Felix Auger Aliassime will also fancy their chances and could go deep in the tournament.
Look out for Francisco Cerundolo, who has been flying up the rankings this year, and the ever-consistent Cameron Norrie and the big-hitting Matteo Berrettini.
Prediction – Alcaraz to win
Canadian Open WTA
Iga Swiatek is the top seed on the women’s side and will look to regain some form after a few inconsistent performances in the previous few months.
Camila Giorgi was a surprise winner last year, but it will be tough for her to defend her title.
All of the top 16 seeds have the game to win this tournament. These include Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Guaff, Daria Kasatkina, Belinda Bencic, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova and Jelena Ostapenko.
Unseeded players such as Naomi Osaka, Amanda Anisimova, Barbora Krejcikova, Elena Rybakina, and Victoria Azarenka will also be ones to look out for.
I’m going to go with a Swiatek win. I think she’ll continue her clay-court dominance on the hard and further justify why she is the world’s number 1.
Prediction – Swiatek to win
