Frustration reigns as Montreal player field collapses

Tennis Canada has called for a re-think of the crowded summer ATP hardcourt calendar which has left the Montreal Masters bosses presiding over a ghost tournament after only four days of pay.

With world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam hero Novak Djokovic choosing a financial wrist-slap over competing just three week after Wimbledon and all Canadian players done and dusted, the frustration level is rising.

The event lost top seeded Roland Garros Alexander Zverev in his first match, while Canadian Feliz Auger-Aliassime, the second seed and major home hope was unable to make his start due to a back injury.

Previously, several other players returned with physical problems and Brit jack draper blinked back the tears as the oft-injured player failed again to get a comeback effort off the ground.

A tearful Jack Draper as the third set drifts away from him in his return from injury is first round match.

Canadian officials vented on Thursday, calling for as-yet unspecified changes in order to give their pre-US Open event a fair go.

“I don’t think it’s too many tournaments. I think the big change overall it’s the fact that -you know, there has been small changes year after year,” Tennis Canada official Guillaume Marx said.

“That’s making a little bit of an impact, which is Wimbledon one week later, which is us one week earlier, no switch anymore with the (WTA) girls and Cincinnati.
“At the end we’re a little bit more exposed (schedule-wise, with the US Open starting within a fortnight of the controversial Montreal mid-week final).

“At the moment we don’t deliver to have the best players committing to the tournament. We ave to find a solution, especially with the short summer (schedule).”
The official added that top players who miss Canada to rest for the Open are not particularly to blame, but added:

“I don’t believe the players are happy to skip a tournament; they have their priorities and you can accept that  the schedule is tough. It’s tough.

“They have to spend two months in North America. They have their schedule and they need to manage themselves.

“(But) we need to defend the tournament, and we need the best players to come to Montreal or Toronto. That’s for sure. 

“And we need to work towards that. It’s that simple.”

Main photo:- Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are no shows in Canada – by Roger Parker ISF