.The Olympics are still happening (Novak Djokovic and also Carlos Alcaraz are actually squaring off in the guys's singles gold-medal suit on Sunday), yet the ping pong scenic tour is actually squandering no time at all advancing to the upcoming event. Right away on the heels of the Olympics and also the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. is actually the National Bank Open. It's a 1000-point competition-- for the guys in Montreal as well as for the women in Toronto.Needless to say, there are going to be lots of weary bodies in Montreal. That won't be the case for globe No. 1 Jannik Criminal, since he was actually forced out of the Olympics by tonsillitis. Rather than creating all kinds of surface area changes (clay to turf to clay-based and currently to tough courts), Criminal has actually been actually relaxing up for the hard-court summer months. In fact, the Italian-- who has actually not played since Wimbledon-- has actually been in Montreal for a whole week.Sinner is actually the No. 1 seed this coming full week and is a specifically very clear label preferred since each Djokovic as well as Alcaraz have actually predictably withdrawn coming from the event. Obviously, it is actually certainly not as if Criminal will definitely lack competition. Other top seeds feature Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, as well as Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Following a bye, Evildoer can meet Frances Tiafoe in the third round, Rublev or Tommy Paul in the quarters, and also Medvedev or Tsitsipas in the SFs. Tsitsipas is going to likely bump into Alex Michelsen in the last 32 and also Arthur Fils in the last 16, while Medvedev likely opens with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Tiafoe vs. Alejandro Tabilo is actually a first-round match.The bottom half of the bracket is actually home to a handful of interesting first-round showdowns: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Flavio Cobolli, Ben Shelton vs. Alexander Bublik, Port Draper vs. Jordan Thompson, and Holger Rune vs. Milos Raonic.If the seeds pursue create, quarterfinal matches would certainly be Hubert Hurkacz vs. Grigor Dimitrov, Sinner vs. Rublev, Medvedev vs. Tsitsipas, and also Zverev vs. Ruud.Ricky contributes to 10sballs. com and likewise maintains his personal ping pong site, The Grandstand. You can easily observe him on Twitter at @Dimonator.