The 2025 Canadian Open just lost another heavyweight, as world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the tournament. The Spaniard announced Monday that he would not be playing in Toronto, and will instead be recovering from a grueling start to the tour.
“After many consecutive weeks of competition without rest, I will not be able to play in Toronto this year. I have small muscles issues and I need to recover physically and mentally for what comes next,” Alcaraz wrote on social media. “To the tournament and to my fans in Canada I am very sorry, I will see you next year!”
Alcaraz joins a number of high-ranking players who have pulled out of the tournament, citing injuries and recovery. The tournament announced Sunday that Jannik Sinner, No. 1 in the ATP rankings, and No. 6 Novak Djokovic have pulled out of the competition, citing injuries and rest. Additionally, Jack Draper, ranked No. 5, will also miss the contest due to an arm injury.
Last week, Sinner took home his first Wimbledon title in a high-stakes, highly watched rematch against Alcaraz. Djokovic has been dealing with a quad injury that affected his performance at Wimbledon.
With those three out, plus Alcaraz, four of the top six men’s seeds will be absent from the singles competition in Toronto.
The Canadian Open (known officially as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers due to sponsorships) is one of the nine tournaments categorized as ATP Masters 1000, marking them just below the Grand Slams in terms of importance. The competition typically hosts most of the top competitors, though it is not uncommon for players to take one of them off in order to get some rest.
In the case of Alcaraz, he’s had a very busy year already. The Spaniard dramatically won his first French Open, made the Final against Sinner at Wimbledon and won two other smaller titles (the Monte Carlo Masters and the Italian Open) in between.
With Alcaraz, Sinner and the others out, the main draws in Toronto will likely be No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 4 Taylor Fritz — assuming that they don’t also withdraw. Zverev has a leg up over Fritz: The German won the Canadian Open back in 2017, while Fritz has yet to advance past the third round.
No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 9 Holger Rune are also set to compete, while the highest-ranked Canadians, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime (ranked No. 27 and No. 28, respectively), will attempt to earn the trophy at home.
