The expanded format for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers returns for a second year in a row with the start of main-draw play on Sunday.
The 96-player tournaments, up from 56, now run over 12 days instead of seven. This year, the men are in Montreal while the women play in Toronto.
The 32 seeded players in each event get first-round byes, meaning they don’t hit the court until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Still, plenty of familiar names are in action over the first two days, including a big Canadian contingent trying to take advantage of an annual opportunity to play in top-level events on home courts.
Here’s a look at what’s in store on opening day:
Venus opens play on Centre Court
While Serena Williams won’t include Toronto as part of her comeback, her sister Venus is in the city.
The 46-year-old plays the opening match on Centre Court against Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan.
Williams has played a limited schedule this season, going 2-6.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion had her best finish in Canada in 2014 when she was runner-up to Agnieszka Radwańska in Montreal.
“I remember playing here the first time when I was like 15 or 16,” Williams told reporters in Toronto on Saturday. “I was such a young person. I played the night match and I didn’t know what was going on (laughing). But I learned a lot since that time. Folks in Canada are so nice.”
Bianca Andreescu produced a dramatic win with a terrible ending at last year’s NBO in Montreal. Andreescu badly injured her ankle in the final game of her first-round win over Barbora Krejcikova and then had to pull out of her next match.
Andreescu is now ranked 174th in the world after reaching No. 4 in her breakthrough 2019 campaign, which included tournament titles in Toronto and at the US Open. The native of Mississauga, Ont. has been hit hard by injuries in recent years.
Andreescu has a tough draw to open the NBO. facing world No. 41 Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia in the featured evening match. The 20-year-old, who was ranked outside the top 500 last June, has wins over Belinda Bencic and Madison Keys this year.
Diallo looks to reverse fortunes
It has been a miserable year for Gabriel Diallo, who is 9-17 in 2026. The Montrealer has dropped to No. 99 in the rankings, and needed a wild card to get into his home event.
Diallo is a long way down from his career-high No. 33 ranking, achieved last August. Diallo won his first career ATP Tour-level match at the 2023 NBO in Toronto. He hopes he can get a boost from playing at home as he opens in the featured night match against French qualifier Kyrian Jacquet on Sunday.
It’s a very winnable match for Diallo with Jacquet ranked 120th.
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Women’s: 12:30 p.m. (Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet+); 7 p.m. (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+)
Men’s: 11 a.m. (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+); 7 p.m. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+)
MATCH SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Centre Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Kamilla Rakhimova (UZB) vs [WC] Venus Williams (USA)
[Q] Aoi Ito (JPN) vs [WC] Katherine Sebov (CAN)
Not before 7 p.m.: Nikola Bartunkova (CZE) vs [WC] Bianca Andreescu (CAN)
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) vs Shuai Zhang (CHN)
Grandstand (starts at 11 a.m.)
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP) vs [WC] Ariana Arseneault (CAN)
[Q] Moyuka Uchijima (JPN) vs Cristina Bucsa (ESP)
Magdalena Frech (POL) vs [Q] Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)
Not before 5 p.m.: McCartney Kessler (USA) vs [WC] Cadence Brace (CAN)
Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) vs Peyton Stearns (USA)
Court 1 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Kimberly Birrell (AUS) vs Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
[Q] Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA) vs Camila Osorio (COL)
Not before 4 p.m.: [Q] Emerson Jones (AUS) vs [Q] Lanlana Tararudee (THA)
Talia Gibson (AUS) vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA)
Court 4 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Xiyu Wang (CHN) vs Sara Bejlek (CZE)
[Q] Lois Boisson (FRA) vs Antonia Ruzic (CRO)
[Q] Rebecca Sramkova (SVK) vs [Q] Anna Blinkova (RUS)
Centre Court (starts at 11 a.m.)
Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) vs Nuno Borges (POR)
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs Mariano Navone (ARG)
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) vs Corentin Moutet (FRA)
Not before 7 p.m.: [WC] Gabriel Diallo (CAN) vs [Q] Kyrian Jacquet (FRA)
[WC] Alexis Galarneau (CAN) vs Vit Kopriva (CZE)
Rogers Court (starts at 11 a.m.)
Jaume Munar (ESP) vs Rinky Hijikata (AUS)
[Q] Nicolas Mejia (COL) vs Martin Landaluce (ESP)
Luca Van Assche (FRA) vs [Q] Titouan Droguet (FRA)
Not before 6 p.m.: [Q] Sho Shimabukuro (JPN) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)
[Q] Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) vs Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
Court 5 (starts at 11 a.m.)
[Q] Michael Zheng (USA) vs Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
[Q] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) vs Daniel Altmaier (GER)
Court 9 (starts at 11 a.m.)
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (PAR) vs Juncheng Shang (CHN)
James Duckworth (AUS) vs [Q] Christopher O’Connell (AUS)