MONTREAL — National Bank Open presented by Rogers tournament director Valérie Tétreault admitted she started tracking weather forecasts a month before the tournament began.
“Every morning, I was looking at how things were shaping up,” she said.
Tétreault could hardly have experienced a worse day Sunday, as the men's main draw got underway.
Fourteen matches were scheduled, but only two were completed amid heavy rainstorms in Montreal. The evening session, which was set to feature local talents Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau, was cancelled in its entirety.
China's Shang Juncheng defeated Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-3, 6-3 before the first shower arrived at IGA Stadium. A break in the rain in the middle of the afternoon allowed Spain’s Jaume Munar to finish off Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Two matches will have to be completed at another time. Portugal’s Nuno Borges was leading American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-7 (6), 6-2, 0-0 (40-15), while American Michael Zheng and Croatia’s Miomir Kecmanovic had not started their deciding set after splitting the first two, each winning 6-4.
The other six matches scheduled for the day session never got underway, nor did the four matches slated for the evening session.
While the tournament’s new 12-day format gives organizers more time to reschedule matches early in the event, Tétreault noted there are also more matches to make up when rain hits earlier in the tournament compared with later stages.
“I think it would become really complicated if we had three days of rain, but that’s not what’s currently being forecast,” Tétreault said.
Shang, ranked No. 270 in the world, will face Russian Andrey Rublev in the next round. Rublev was a finalist in Montreal in 2024 and is the 10th seed this year.
Munar, meanwhile, will play 27th-seeded Belgian Alexander Blockx in the second round.
Diallo’s match against France’s Kyrian Jacquet and Galarneau’s meeting with Czechia’s Vit Kopriva are expected to be played Monday.
Montreal's Félix Auger-Aliassime, the tournament's second seed, received a first-round bye. He's scheduled to play his second-round match Tuesday night against the winner of the all-French matchup between Lucas Van Assche and Titouan Droguet.
After reaching the final of the Los Cabos Open tournament in Mexico on Saturday night, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., is expected to play his first-round match in Montreal against American Zachary Svajda on Tuesday morning.
Shapovalov was also scheduled to play doubles in Montreal with Galarneau but Tétreault said it was possible Shapovalov would withdraw. In that event, Duncan Chan of Markham, Ont., would replace him alongside Galarneau.
