TORONTO — Felix Auger-Aliassime is of two minds about the raft of withdrawals from the National Bank Open.
On one hand, it is unfortunate that Canadian tennis fans won't get to see the likes of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 6 Novak Djokovic compete in the Toronto tournament.
But on the other, Auger-Aliassime's chances of becoming the first homegrown tennis player to win the men's Canadian Open title in the Open Era have undoubtedly improved.
"I think (tournament director) Karl (Hale) and I might have a bit of a different angle here," Auger-Aliassime, 24, joked as the draw was revealed at Sobeys Stadium on Friday in Toronto.
"Karl doesn't step on a court to play Alcaraz. So in my case, look, every tournament, it happens. You have to consider that the year is long and obviously players will have to make decisions about their schedule. But that doesn't change my goal here. Regardless if they were here or not, I'm here to compete, play and to try to win."
At least seven Canadians will compete in the main draw — pending Saturday's qualifying — but there are no all-Canadian matchups scheduled for the first round.
World No. 115 Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., will take on No. 92 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
Alexis Galarneau, the Laval, Que., native ranked 198th, meets No. 65 Arthur Rinderknech of France.
Nicolas Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont.— Canada's top-ranked junior — will make his main-draw debut against 68th-ranked Serbian Laslo Djere.
A Canadian man has never won the National Bank Open singles title since the Open Era began in 1968. Robert Bédard, who won his third title in 1958, is the last to accomplish the feat.
Bianca Andreescu's 2019 championship marked the first for a Canadian woman since Faye Urban in 1969.
Dabrowski remains the last Canadian to win on home soil, having emerged victorious in women's doubles alongside Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani in women's doubles in 2021.
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