Montreal Masters Sees Major Upsets; Only One Top-5 Seed Remains

The Montreal Masters tennis tournament is experiencing a cascade of unexpected results, with a significant number of seeded players being eliminated early in the competition. Only one of the initial top five seeds, American Ben Shelton, remains in contention.

The tournament, a key event on the ATP Tour, has already seen the early exits of top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, both of whom lost in their opening matches. Adding to the drama, local hope Felix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, was forced to withdraw before the tournament began due to an injury.

Adding to the string of upsets, Australia's third seed Alex de Minaur suffered a dramatic three-set loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie. De Minaur had a match point in the second set but ultimately fell 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, marking another significant blow to the tournament's expected top contenders.

With several of the sport's biggest stars, including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz, not participating, the absence of high-profile seeds is expected to impact ticket sales. Tournament director Valerie Tetreault expressed disappointment, particularly regarding Auger-Aliassime's withdrawal, acknowledging him as the "home hope" many fans were eager to see play.

“

Honestly, we were hoping Felix would win a few matches. He was definitely the home hope everyone was talking about, and people wanted to know when he would play.