National Bank Open Odds: Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina Top Seeds in Montreal
Canadian Andreescu Eyeing Her Second Title at the Event Formerly Known as the Rogers Cup
North American Hard Court Season Kicks Into High Gear in Montreal
Other than a Grand Slam, it might be harder to find a better field than the National Bank Open, the event better known as the Rogers Cup. Ons Jabeur is the only top-10 player not entered the field, so keep that in mind when looking at the National Bank Open odds.
There will be a new champion as Simona Halep is currently serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance at the 2022 US Open.
Just two of the top 10 seeds made it to the quarterfinals in the 2022 tournament with seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula the only one to make it to the semifinals.
Iga Swiatek is the top seed followed by Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Pegula, and Caroline Garcia.
Swiatek leads the way in the US Open outrights at +225 followed by Sabalenka (+500), and Rybakina (+600). Jabeur is priced at +1200 with Gauff and Pegula next at +1400.
The main draw begins on Monday for the 64-player main draw.
Here’s a look at some of the storylines as the preparation for the US Open heats up.
Swiatek Eyes First Title in Montreal
The top three players in the world have kept pretty low profiles since Wimbledon. That won’t stop them from being among the top contenders when it comes to the National Bank Open odds.
Swiatek, who fell to Elina Svitolina 6-2 in the third set in the quarterfinals, won the Warsaw Open in her native Poland. Three of her five matches came against players out of the top 100 in the WTA rankings.
Sabalenka lost to Ons Jabeur in three sets in the semifinals while Jabeur also took out Rybakina at Wimbledon, winning a total of five games in the final two sets after winning a first-set tiebreaker.
Many of the top players took time to recover after the grueling stretch that included the French Open and Wimbledon. The event in Canada will be followed by the 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. That event will have a similar field to the one in Montreal before a couple of smaller events the week before the US Open.
If Swiatek loses before the quarterfinals and Sabalenka wins the title, Sabalenka will replace Swiatek atop the WTA rankings.
The tournament will also feature the return of former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki since she retired in 2020.
A Look At the U.S. Hopes
There are three American players who are seeded in the tournament with Pegula joined by No. 6 seed Coco Gauff and No. 15 Madison Keys. All will factor into the National Bank Open odds.
There hasn’t been a women’s final with a pair of U.S. players since Serena Williams topped Jennifer Capriati in three sets in 2001.
Counting naturalized American Martina Navratilova, five finals featuring two players representing the U.S. from 1981-87.
Serena Williams is the last American player to win the tournament as she won the last of her three titles back in 2001. Keys, Sloane Stephens, and Williams have been finalists since that last title.
The tournament gave 2014 finalist Venus Williams a wild card into the main draw. This will be her 12th appearance in the tournament. She is 5-6 at the tourney since losing the Agnieszka Radwanska in the 2014 finals.
When looking at the WTA tournaments, Pegula is another of the U.S. players competing in the tour spot in Washington, D.C. Ten of the 28 players in the women’s singles draw in Washington are Americans with two others from Canada in the field.
Pegula has reached the semifinals in the tournament both in 2021 and 2022 before losing in three sets to the eventual champion both times with Gauff reaching the quarterfinals in both of her appearances in the tournament.
Keys has lost in the first round in her last three times in the event since reaching the finals in Montreal in 2016.
Three-time champion Serena Williams has retired so she will not be part of the draw.
Home-Court Advantage
During the Open era, Canadian Faye Urban was a dominant presence at the Canadian Open as she reached the finals in 1968 and won the event the following year 6-2, 6-0 over fellow Canadian Vicki Bernier. It was 50 years before another player from Canada got to the singles final.
Bianca Andreescu was unseeded when she eliminated No. 5 seed Kiki Bertens and third-seeded Karolina Pliskova in back-to-back three-set matches. She topped American Sofia Kenin in the semifinals and then won the title as she was leading 3-1 when Serena Williams retired.
Andreescu is back in the tournament and is unseeded once again as she is currently ranked 44th. She reached the Round of 16 in the tournament in both 2021 and 2022.
Rebecca Marino and Leylah Fernandez are Canadians in the main draw.
Among some recent WTA scores, Fernandez got into the Washington D.C. main draw through qualifying and then topped Bernarda Pena 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the main draw. She will get even more of a push from the home crowd since she is a Montreal native.
Fernandez is ranked No. 88, two spots ahead of Marino. Fernandez did win her opening match in the 2022 event before falling to eventual finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The last time the tournament was in Montreal, Marino was ranked 220th and upset Madison Keys and Paula Badosa to reach the Round of 16.
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