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Wimbledon is in the books, and the U.S. Open is in less than one month, marking the tennis season’s final Grand Slam. However, there is still plenty of tennis action between now and then, and the 2025 Canadian Open is underway, with the Round of 64 kicking off tomorrow, July 29. The 1000-point tournament takes place in Toronto for the men’s side, and the women will go head-to-head in Montreal.
There is plenty of excitement surrounding this year’s Canadian Open, but there are major absentees on the men’s and women’s brackets, so let’s dive into our 2025 Canadian Open preview and picks.
Before providing my 2025 Canada Open Men’s pick, it’s worth covering who won’t be at this week’s tournament in Toronto. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz faced off in back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the French Open, but both players won’t feature in Canada. Additionally, Novak Djokovic will miss this year’s tournament, so the field is wide open. With the world’s top three players missing the event, all eyes will be set on Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz, who are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in Ontario.
Zverev owns the top seed in this contest, and the German has already won this title in 2017 when he beat the odds-on-favorite Roger Federer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. He owns a first-round bye and has shown how well he can play on hard courts after just falling short against Sinner in the Australian Open. If he continues that form, he will have a great chance at winning this year’s tournament in Toronto.
The No. 2 seed is the American Taylor Fritz, and he is the only player from the last four at Wimbledon to feature in the Canada Open. Although he fell short against Alcaraz in England, the 27-year-old will be brimming with confidence entering this event. He’s already beaten Zverev this year at the Stuttgart Open final, 6-3, 7-6, extending his win streak to five straight against the German. Overall, I love Fritz at this year’s Canada Open and will back him to win it all.
Like the men’s side, the world No. 1 will miss this year’s Canada Open, as Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from the field. However, there is still plenty of star power, as Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Mirra Andreeva, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys will all feature at this year’s event. With Sabalenka out of the picture, each player above will feel as if they can win this tournament, even though Swiatek is coming off a Wimbledon win. The Pole played great, but she hasn’t won a hard-court title since March 2024.
When it comes to the rest of the field, I love Coco Gauff’s chances. The 21-year-old shines on hard courts, and the world No. 2 won the 2023 U.S. Open and Cincinnati Open earlier this year. She’s played at the Canada Open four times in her career, advancing to the quarterfinals in three instances. Although she was eliminated at Wimbledon early after losing to Dayana Yastremska in straight sets in the first round, she’ll be extremely rested because she also skipped last week’s 500-point event in Washington D.C.
Finally, Swiatek, Pegula and Keys are all on the other side of the bracket, so she has a great path to the final. Everything is lining up for Gauff, and if she comes in with a clear mind and body, she’ll have a great shot at winning it all. Therefore, I’ll back Coco to win this year’s Canada Open.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.