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National Bank Open organizers can’t be big fans of the Olympics this year.
The Montreal tennis tournament suffered another hit on Thursday when it announced Spain star Carlos Alcaraz won’t play next week.
The news followed the announcement of the withdrawal of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz, the 2024 French Open and Wimbledon champ, and Djokovic are both still alive in men’s singles play at the Olympics in Paris.
The National Bank Open main draw is starting next Tuesday, a day later than normal, because of Paris 2024.
“It has been a very long season for me and due to the accumulation of matches and fatigue, I will not be able to play in Montreal this year,” Alcaraz said in a statement. “I was really looking forward to coming back to Canada and enjoying the love of the fans. Hope to see everyone in Montreal in the years to come.”
Tennis Canada also announced that Francisco Cerundolo (No. 26) and Jiri Lehecka (No. 30) have withdrawn from the NBO.
Marcos Giron (No. 38) of the United States, Australia’s Alexei Popyrin (No. 63) and Flavio Cobolli of Italy (No. 48) now enter the field.