Dissecting the 2026 NBO Montreal Draw: Zverev,…

The draw is set for the 2026 National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal.

The road to the trophy begins Saturday at IGA Stadium for the best players on the ATP Tour, led by Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Canada’s own Félix Auger-Aliassime.

READ: Practice Makes Perfect on the NBO Courts in Montreal

In fact, the tournament’s top two seeds could face tricky matches to begin their title quests following their opening round byes. Zverev, this year’s Roland-Garros champion and Wimbledon finalist, will meet the winner of the first-round contest between Tallon Griekspoor and Lorenzo Sonego. Auger-Aliassime, who will be seeded second at a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career, could face Luca Van Assche of France who won his first ATP crown in Estoril a few weeks ago.

Potential Quarter-Finals

Here’s how the top 8 seeds were drawn and possible quarter-final matchups:

Top Half

Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. Taylor Fritz (USA)

Daniil Medvedev vs. Ben Shelton (USA)

Botton Half

Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs. Jiri Lehecka (CZE)

Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. Flavio Cobolli (ITA)

The Canadians

Auger-Aliassime will be joined in the main draw by four of his compatriots. Denis Shapovalov, a semi-finalist in Montreal nine years ago already, will open against American Zachary Svajda. Shapovalov is currently in the final four of the Los Cabos event in Mexico. Montrealer Gabriel Diallo will start against a qualifier, Alexis Galarneau plays Czech Vit Kopriva, and Liam Draxl, who earned the Road to NBO wild card, faces the Spanish upstart, Daniel Merida.

Draper and Monfils to Star in Popcorn First Matches

Speaking of wild cards, Gael Monfils will begin his final go-around in Montreal against Kamil Majchrzak of Poland. He is making his 15th National Bank Open appearance and holds a 24-13 career record in Canada. Meanwhile, former world no. 4 Jack Draper will return to the Tour for the first time since the grass season against Frenchman Terence Atmane in what promises to be an entertaining encounter.

Did You Know?

ATP MASTERS 1000 BREAKTHROUGHS: The NBO’s last four singles champions all won their first career ATP Masters 1000 title on Canadian soil – Shelton, Popyrin, Jannik Sinner (2023) and Carreno Busta. This is the longest current streak of first-time winners of any of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments on the ATP Tour.

NEXT/GEN PLAYERS ON THE RISE (20-under) – There are five players 20-under in the Top 65 PIF ATP Rankings

Learner Tien, USA (20) No. 16

Jakub Mensik, CZE (20) No. 17

Rafael Jodar, ESP (19) No. 25

Joao Fonseca, BRA (19) No. 27

Martin Landaluce, ESP (20) No. 62

Photos by: Pascal Ratthé