Preview WTA Canadian Open 2024 headlined by Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Bianca Andreescu and Jessica Pegula

After a thrilling week of Olympic tennis, the sport now returns to its regular calendar between August 6-12 at the Canadian Open (National Bank Open). The WTA 1000 event in Toronto is the next stop for the ladies, and we're all eagerly anticipating what this event will bring.

The 1000 event in Canada marks the beginning of the highly anticipated US Open series, a series of hard-court events that culminate with the final Grand Slam of the year. This part of the calendar is always packed with excitement, and this year, it's even more intriguing due to the absence of some top players. There is potential for some upsets, which aren't that rare at these events, but now it's even more likely, and that makes for an exciting watch.

The Olympics just concluded, so many players who played in Paris will simply not travel to Canada because it doesn't make much sense, especially if they had to play a lot of tennis. Sure, there are those who played in Paris and will play in Toronto as well, but there are also some notable absences. After all, it's a short turnaround, and rushing the surface change is never a good idea, which is why some of the biggest names in the sport will take their time. The premium event of this part of the season is the US Open, and everything else is just build up for that.

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Absences

As we noted above, quite a few big-name players will be skipping over this event. Chiefly among them is the number one player in the world, Iga Swiatek, who was in action a day ago in Paris battling Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova for the Bronze Medal. Swiatek withdrew from Canada a few days ago when it became clear that her stay in Paris would be an extended one, and rushing to play in Toronto made very little sense. She doesn't need the money, nor does she need the trophy, but she certainly needs time to rest up and recover after what was largely an unsuccessful campaign for her in Paris. Putting your body at risk with a sudden change of surface without easing yourself into it is also not worth it.

The Cincinnati Masters is next week, and she'll likely return there, so overall, there is just a need to rush back. Elena Rybakina is joining the list of players who will be doing the same. Rybakina actually didn't even play in Paris because she's been dealing with some physical problems for a while. She missed some prep events for Wimbledon but played there; however, since then, we haven't really seen her.

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The announcement of her withdrawal from the event had her confirm that she's not yet capable of playing, so obviously, we wish her a speedy recovery because missing the Olympics was already bad enough. We don't want to see her more big events.

Another player who won't play this year is Barbora Krejcikova who might not be the biggest name but she's certainly thrusted her back into the conversation for trophies with her recent performances.

Elena Rybakina is among those not involved.

The way she snuck into the Wimbledon final and won the event was a tremendous achievement, and it surprised many people. Nobody saw it coming, and it's actually quite similar to how she won Roland Garros a couple of years ago. Overall the run reminded everybody that she's still a great player, and with her recent form, she certainly would have been in contention to do some great things in Toronto. Unfortunately, she won't be playing, probably taking some time off to recover after a very busy summer schedule. Another notable absence will be Jasmine Paolini, who is also not in the draw after her long stay in Paris as the Italian had to play on the final day of the tennis competition in the doubles final.

Rushing back didn't make any sense, especially not with how busy she has been this summer with the singles and doubles final at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon final as well.There are some other players who won't be playing, but for the most part, these players are some of the most notable ones, and had they played, they would have likely been in contention for a deep run.

Favourites

The top seed at this event is Coco Gauff, which is a great thing for her as she hasn't really experienced it that often before. She's going to benefit from a good draw and she'll need it because she is coming from Paris. Her stay wasn't that long, as she was out of the competition fairly early in all 3 of the competitions she played, but she still played a lot of tennis. The singles one was the biggest disappointment for her because many genuinely believed that she was going to stand opposite Iga Swiatek in the final, only for none of them to actually make the final.

The doubles was also a competition where many assumed she would do good, but she didn't, and the mixed doubles also didn't yield a medal either. It was a huge disappointment for her, but she'll keep herself busy with some more tennis in Toronto after opting to play here. Part of why she likely opted to play here is simply the seeding, which gives her a 1st round BYE, meaning that she won't play on day one. Even if she arrived on Sunday, she'd still have enough time to prep for her first match, which likely will happen on Tuesday, possibly even Wednesday.

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Her main competition at this event is going to be Aryna Sabalenka, who is the second seed but likely top favourite. It's a toss-up between them as to who is more likely to make the final and possibly win the trophy, but Sabalenka has been in action in Washington and playing really well, so she'll arrive in Toronto with some hard courts tennis recently, which is better than Gauff coming from clay.

Sabalenka generally has a great game for this part of the calendar because the quicker courts are devastating in combination with her power. Much like Gauff, she, too, will have a 1st round BYE, which should give her a bit of time to rest up from the week in Washington, helping with the fatigue. She's had some weeks off before as he didn't lay in Paris, so fatigue likely shouldn't be an issue.

The 3rd seed at this event will be Jessica Pegula, who also competed in Paris, but much like Guaff, her stay was relatively short, which gave her enough time to recover and opt to play in Toronto. She's generally played really well at these events, so it's not a huge surprise that she's going to play at the event. Pegula is actually the defending champion here, although it's a bit of a weird title defence because of the rotational nature of the Canadian Open.

She won the event last year, but that event was played in Montreal, so she won in Montreal but will be defending her trophy in Toronto on the courts. She didn't win because the event switched. The men play in one city, and the one plays in the other city, and then they switch the next year and one, and on we go from there. While the conditions might not be the same, they're fairly similar, and Pegula should likely benefit from that.

Dark horses

There are a couple of other names to watch when it comes to this event. Naomi Osaka is one of those because the type of courts that they're going to play her on suit her style of play. It's not impossible for her to find a really good level of tennis and find herself in the latter stages of the event because she certainly has the talent for it. There is no shortage of motivation either, but she's going to have to find more consistency in her tennis than she has had so far.Another name to watch is Paula Badosa, who has been in the US for a while because she didn't play at the Olympics.

The Spanish player showed a really high level in Washington, and if her body can hold up after such a long week, she's certainly a player to watch at this event because she could go far. Making the final in Washington is great, but you do kind of worry whether her back will handle so much tennis back-to-back. If it does, watch out for Badosa making a run.

Leylah Fernandez is another dark horse who could surprise here because she's going to play in front of her home crowd. The Canadian has failed to string together consistent performances, but at times, her level has been really good, so it's not impossible to see her do really well here.

A good match to give her confidence coupled with the crowd backing could unleash her in a similar way the US Open run unfolded. Overall, though, it promises to be a really exciting event, and while we are missing the world number one and a couple of other big names, much of the top of the tennis world will be here.