The National Bank Open faced significant withdrawals from top tennis players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner this year. Experts attribute this trend to the event's scheduling, now a 12-day competition immediately following Wimbledon and preceding the Cincinnati Open and U.S. Open. The compact timetable limits players' rest and increases stress. Gill Gross emphasizes that the extended Masters 1000 events lead to fatigue as professionals juggle extensive tournaments. NBO officials are considering structural changes to address player concerns while maintaining a positive outlook on the tournament's format.
“Tennis is played 11 months out of the year. So, it is a grind for these players as is, but the expansion of the Masters 1000 to two-week events has actually made it worse,” said Gill Gross. “They're spending more days out of the year at tournaments, living in hotels, out of suitcases, living with the anxiety that they feel just in that tournament mode, instead of being at home.”
Karl Hale, NBO Toronto tournament director, says, 'We’re going to have talks with the tours about how we can mitigate against this, so we have some really good ideas.' He believes the 12 days format is bigger and better for tennis in Canada.
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