The 2021 National Bank Open is a tennis event set to take place from August 6 to August 15, 2021. It is also known as the 2021 Canadian Open. The initial date was set for August 8 to August 16, 2020, as part of the 2020 tennis season, but have since been changed. Tennis Canada postponed the 2020 Canadian Open to 2021 as a result of the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Both the men's and women's tournaments will be held in the Aviva Centre in Toronto and the IGA Stadium in Montreal, respectively. In 2021, the men's tournament will be the 140th Masters 1000 event on the ATP Tour, while the women's tournament will be the 129th WTA 1000 event on the WTA Tour.
Prior to 2011, the two contests were held during different weeks in July and August. Since 2021, the men's tournament has been hosted in Montreal on even-numbered years, and the women's tournament has been held in Toronto on odd-numbered years. The defending champions are Rafael Nadal in the ATP Tour Masters 1000 and Bianca Andreescu in the WTA 1000.
Why is Serena Williams not playing at the National Bank Open?
In mid-July, WTA had revealed the entry list for the 2021 National Bank Open. This announcement brought good news to many but brought sadness to many more as well. 2019 reigning champion Bianca Andreescu will appear at the tournament, but runner-up Serena Williams will not be competing.
Previously, the American star revealed that she will not be participating in the Olympics during her brief appearance at Wimbledon 2021. Before her opening round match at the Championships, the American revealed that she will not be attending. “I'm actually not on the Olympic list - not that I'm aware of. If so, then I shouldn't be on it. There's a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision," Serena said in July.
Williams had a 2021 Wimbledon Championship to forget. In what was expected to be another exciting road to the final, Serena suffered an injury in her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. She had to retire the match with the result set at 3-3 in the first set after she slipped and bent her ankle.
