Montreal 2026, facing a historic opportunity: Who could be the next new Masters 1000 champion?

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The ATP Masters 1000 Montreal 2026 presents itself as an unbeatable opportunity for a player to inaugurate their trophy collection in this category. The absences of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic increase the possibilities and allow players like Félix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Miñaur, Rafael Jódar, or Joao Fonseca to dream of capturing the most coveted title of their careers.

There are tournaments that acquire their own identity, and the Canadian event seems to have found its in recent times. Four consecutive editions have ended by crowning players who had never before won a Masters 1000 title: Pablo Carreño in 2022, Jannik Sinner in 2023, Alexei Popyrin in 2024, and Ben Shelton in 2025. The possibility of this streak extending for a fifth consecutive year is very real, given the significant absences in the draw and the feeling among many players that they are facing a rarely repeatable opportunity.

Canada has become a land of opportunities in the Masters 1000

The trend developed in recent seasons is remarkably striking. The Canadian Masters 1000 has traditionally been one of the major starting points on the tour leading up to the US Open, but its place in the calendar means that the top players do not always arrive in optimal conditions.

The transition after Wimbledon, the need to manage efforts before the US Open, and the peculiar conditions of the North American tour create a particularly favorable scenario for surprises. Pablo Carreño kicked off this sequence in 2022, capturing in Montreal the most significant title of his career.

A year later, it was Jannik Sinner who took advantage of the tournament to definitively break a barrier he had been pursuing for a while. His 2023 title was his first career Masters 1000 and turned out to be a prelude to all that would follow afterward. Much more surprising was Alexei Popyrin's success in 2024, while Ben Shelton confirmed the trend in 2025 also by capturing his first title of this category in Canada.

The great unknown is evident: can Montreal 2026 prolong an extraordinary streak?

Auger-Aliassime and De Miñaur, two contenders who have been knocking on the door for a while

When looking among the most prominent players in Montreal who still haven't experienced what it means to win a Masters 1000, Félix Auger-Aliassime emerges as one of the most intriguing names. The Canadian will have his crowd behind him and arrives as the second seed, a privileged position in a draw without three of the major references in world tennis.

His career already demands success of this magnitude. Auger-Aliassime has reached the finals of two Masters 1000 without being able to lift the trophy, so competing at home and doing so in such an open tournament represents a huge opportunity to break that barrier. The pressure will also be significant, but he may rarely find a potentially more favorable stage.

A similar story can be told of Álex de Miñaur. The Australian knows perfectly well what it means to come close to the title in Canada, as he was a finalist in 2023, when he succumbed to Sinner. His consistency at the elite level in recent years makes it almost strange that he still does not hold a Masters 1000 title.

De Miñaur needs one of those major tournaments where he usually competes well to fall on his side. Without Sinner, Alcaraz, or Djokovic, and with a much more open draw than usual, Montreal seems like a fantastic opportunity to give it a try. Despite not having the best season so far, his recent marriage may bring back the mental freshness needed to take on big challenges.

Cobolli, Musetti, Lehecka, Fils, and Cerúndolo can also dream

The depth of the challenger field makes predicting outcomes extremely difficult. Flavio Cobolli, already among the top ten in the world, is another highly ranked player who has yet to conquer a Masters 1000 title. His progress suggests that milestone will come sooner rather than later.

Lorenzo Musetti also possesses sufficient skills and experience to take advantage of an open draw, although he will need to demonstrate that he is fully recovered and in shape after a period of injuries and inconsistencies in his physical condition. Jiri Lehecka and Arthur Fils have a power and aggressiveness particularly suited for hard courts, while Francisco Cerúndolo has been showing for some time that his tennis is no longer limited exclusively to clay.

All of them belong to that group of players for whom Montreal could represent a turning point. Winning an ATP 500 solidifies a progression; conquering a Masters 1000 changes the dimension of a career and allows them to firmly establish themselves among those competing for major titles.

Jódar and Fonseca represent the threat of the new generation

However, there is an even more enticing scenario. Perhaps the next player to add a Masters 1000 title to his record will not be one of the established elite, but one of the great promises of world tennis. This is where Rafael Jódar and Joao Fonseca inevitably come into play. Both are part of a generation that has been demanding prominence for months and faces the North American hard court swing as an opportunity to definitively accelerate their maturation process.

The case of Rafael Jódar is particularly interesting. The Spaniard has already shown that he can compete against opponents of great level and arrives at this part of the calendar with the challenge of translating everything he has learned during his breakthrough on the circuit to the hard court. His previous experience in the United States, acquired during his college years, and the confidence built up over the last few months suggest that he could be a very uncomfortable opponent if he finds consistency.

Joao Fonseca presents a different profile, but an equally evident threat. The Brazilian has a natural ability to generate power and dominate with his shots, which can be devastating on this type of court. The big question with both players will be to see if they are prepared to string together five or six victories against opponents of great level in a tournament of this magnitude.

Montreal 2026 offers an opportunity that many cannot afford to miss

It will all depend, obviously, on how the field is set up and on the performance of the top contenders. Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and the defending champion Ben Shelton, among others, have enough reasons to prevent a new winner of a Masters 1000 event from emerging. The absence of Sinner, Alcaraz, and Djokovic does not mean that winning Montreal will be easy.

But it does completely alter the perception of the tournament. Auger-Aliassime and De Miñaur may feel that the moment has come to culminate years of pursuit; Cobolli, Musetti, Lehecka, Fils, or Cerúndolo have before them the opportunity to make a huge qualitative leap; and youngsters like Jódar and Fonseca represent the most unpredictable and exciting alternative.

Carreño, Sinner, Popyrin, and Shelton seized their respective opportunities between 2022 and 2025 to debut their track record in tournaments of this caliber. Montreal is now looking for a fifth consecutive new champion of a Masters 1000 event. Rarely has a tournament of this category offered such a strong sense that glory is truly within reach for so many.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Montreal 2026, ante una oportunidad histórica: ¿Quién puede ser el próximo nuevo campeón de Masters 1000?