Canadian Open men’s favourites

The recently crowned Wimbledon Champion, Jannik Sinner, the first Italian tennis player to win the title, will miss the event that he won back in 2023. Sinner is recovering from an elbow injury and has decided to nurse it. Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are other notable big-name players who will not be entertaining the crowd in Toronto for an event kicking off on July 27. Here are our favourites to win the title.

1. Alexander Zverev

Following a disappointing first-round exit in the Wimbledon Open to Arthur Rinderknech, Alexander Zverev aims to switch to the hard-court season strongly. He is desperately needing to improve his master’s record this season as he hasn’t progressed past the Quarter-finals stages. The history favors him to deliver, as in 2017, he was a Champion in the event, defeating Roger Federer. Entering the event as the top-seeded player, Zverev will have an amazing chance to win another title. The 28-year-old German’s best performance this year is reaching the Australian Open final, where he was outclassed by Jannik Sinner.

2. Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz is having a decent season so far and continues to be ranked among the best players in the world. Fritz is fresh from reaching the Wimbledon Open semi-finals, where he lost in a pulsating four-set match to Carlos Alcaraz. Besides that wonderful Wimbledon run, Fritz managed to reach the semi-finals of a major in Miami – also ending up on the losing end to Jackub Mensik. He has one single title to his name after winning the Boss Open in mid-June. The 27-year-old American will want to build on an excellent Wimbledon performance and finish the year on a good note.

3. Ben Shelton

Ben Shelton is regarded as one of the most promising young players in the world. At the age of 22, Shelton has shown that he has a bright future ahead of him. He started the year at a good pace, reaching the Australian Open semi-finals, where he lost to eventual Champion Jannik Sinner. Afterwards, he had a slight change in form, battling to stay on top of his game. But reaching the Wimbledon Quarter-finals was a wake-up call to his competitors. In Toronto, he will aim to edge closer to getting a prestigious trophy.

4. Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Musetti is probably having a great year of his career. In the first half of the season, Musetti has been one of the dangerous players, especially on clay courts. In April, he surprised the tennis fraternity by making it to the Monte Carlo final, losing to Carlos Alcaraz despite having won the first set. He went on to reach two back-to-back Masters semi-finals ( Madrid and Italian Open). Making the first French Open semi-final appearance, the 23-year-old took the first set before losing in four sets to Carlos Alcaraz for the third time this year. Now, Musetti will want to work on his hard-court performances.

5. Andrey Rublev

In the event last year, Andrey Rublev grabbed the headlines with a good run to reach the final. The 27-year-old Russian tennis ace defeated the pre-race favorite Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. Even though he lost to Alexei Popyrin in the final, Rublev was proud of his achievements. He will return with high hopes of producing an encouraging performance. So far this year, he is riding on a bad patch, but there is no doubt that he will be one of the world’s most talented players.