TORONTO, August 2, 2021 (Tennis Canada Press Release)

Tennis Canada announced on Monday the names of the top seeds for the 2021 National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto and Montreal. The ATP World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev will be the top seed in Toronto, while WTA No. 2 Naomi Osaka will headline the draw in Montreal. The seedings follow the official ATP Tour and WTA rankings as of today (Monday, August 2) with the Top 16 ranked players entered in each tournament being seeded.

2019 finalist Medvedev will be hoping to go one better than his loss in the championship match in Montreal two years ago. The winner that day, Rafael Nadal – who is a five-time champion in Canada, will join the Russian on the Aviva Centre courts as the tournament’s second seed. Currently ranked No. 4, Stefanos Tsitsipas will be the National Bank Open’s third seed, while 2017 champion and Olympic Gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany will be seeded fourth. Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who is currently ranked No. 10 on the ATP Tour, will be the No. 8 seed on his home court and his compatriot Félix Auger-Aliassime will be seeded 13^th.

“We could not be more excited to kick off the 2021 National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto, especially with so many of the world’s best players set to compete,” said Karl Hale, Tournament Director of the National Bank Open in Toronto. “It’s a true testament to the caliber and prestige of our event that the world’s best players continue to return to play it. It’s especially impressive this year with the Olympic Games and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that the top players will be coming to Toronto. I’m sure our fans will be particularly looking forward to giving our Canadians a warm welcome home.”

In Montreal, Osaka will be vying for her first National Bank Open title. She will be joined by World No. 3 on the WTA Tour, Aryna Sabalenka, who will take her spot as the tournament’s second seed. Canadian and reigning champion Bianca Andreescu will be the No. 4 seed in Montreal as she aims to defend her crown, while 2016 and 2018 champion Simona Halep, who has a wild card into the main draw, will be seeded ninth. Olympic Gold medalist and 2015 champion Belinda Bencic will be the tournament’s 11^th seed.

“This is an exceptionally strong player field for fans to look forward to watching at Stade IGA,” commented Eugene Lapierre, Tournament Director of the National Bank Open in Montreal. “We are delighted to welcome the top players on the WTA Tour, including the likes of Naomi Osaka and Canada’s very own Bianca Andreescu, to Montreal. The women’s tour has so many exciting up-and-coming talents as well as some of the sport’s most established champions. We are ready for a great week of tennis.”

The official draw ceremonies of both tournaments, used to determine the week’s match-ups, will be held on Saturday August 7.

Complete list of seeds:

NATIONAL BANK OPEN PRESENTED BY ROGERS (TORONTO)

NATIONAL BANK OPEN PRESENTED BY ROGERS (MONTREAL)