The round of 16 at the 2026 National Bank Open is set to reshape both the men’s and women’s events, with Montreal and Toronto offering very different kinds of drama. By the end of the weekend, the field will be cut to eight players in each draw, and the title picture should look far clearer.
Saturday, August 8, and Sunday, August 9 will carry the bulk of the action, with the schedule split between day and evening sessions in both cities. The matches now carry added weight because several favorites have already fallen, while a few top names have started to separate themselves from the rest.
What the Weekend Schedule Looks Like
The round-of-16 matches are spread over two days, giving the tournament a full weekend of marquee matchups. Montreal and Toronto will each host four singles matches on Saturday and four more on Sunday, leaving only the quarterfinalists standing when play wraps up.
In Montreal, center-court sessions at IGA Stadium begin at 12:30 p.m. during the day and at 6 p.m. at night. Toronto follows a similar pattern, with daytime matches starting at 12:30 p.m. and evening play beginning at 7 p.m.
The full order of play is usually released the day before each session, since match duration and weather can shift the timing. That means fans will want to check again before heading to the stadium or turning on the broadcast.
Montreal Has Turned Into a Wild Men’s Tournament
The men’s bracket has already been turned upside down. Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, and Andrey Rublev were all eliminated in their opening matches, while Félix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, withdrew because of a back injury.
With six of the top 10 seeds already gone before the second round ended, Montreal has become one of the most open Masters 1000 events in recent memory. That kind of collapse at the top usually creates opportunities for players who would normally be looking up at a wall of elite names.
Ben Shelton remains one of the biggest threats. The defending champion opened with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Jenson Brooksby and looked comfortable in the quick conditions. His serve and first-strike tennis are well suited to the courts in Montreal, especially now that the draw has lost so many of its heavy favorites.
Casper Ruud is another serious contender. The Norwegian handled Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 6-1, 6-2 in his first match, showing a level of control that can matter a great deal in a draw this fractured. Ruud is better known for clay-court consistency, but his hard-court results have improved enough to make him dangerous here.
Why Shelton Still Feels Like the Man to Beat
Shelton arrives with a different kind of pressure this year. After winning the 2025 National Bank Open, he is no longer just a rising force; he is the player everyone else is trying to chase down.
His title run last year was built on aggressive serving, clean forehands, and a pace that overwhelmed opponents who could not keep up. That formula still works, but the expectations are higher now, and opponents know they may get chances if Shelton misses a stretch of first serves or gets too eager to finish points.
The draw should still favor him, at least on paper. With Zverev, Medvedev, and Fritz already out, Shelton’s road looks less crowded than it did at the start of the tournament. Even so, the danger in an open event is that one flat set can suddenly end the run.
Young Players Are Taking Full Advantage
The biggest upside of a chaotic draw is that younger players can turn momentum into something bigger. João Fonseca has already made one of the loudest statements by knocking out Stefanos Tsitsipas in a tense match that showed both power and nerve.
Arthur Fils has also positioned himself as a player to watch. His three-set win over Zachary Svajda gave him a route deeper into the event, and his athletic style fits the pace of Montreal well. If he keeps absorbing pressure and moving through the court aggressively, he can make another jump.
Tallon Griekspoor now looks more like a true contender than a simple upset story. His comeback win over Zverev, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, was one of the defining results of the early rounds. Wins like that can change how a player sees the rest of the tournament, especially when the field has been stripped of so many proven names.
Canada’s Men Missed the Window
Canadian supporters had reason to hope for a stronger home showing, but the men’s side did not cooperate. Auger-Aliassime’s withdrawal removed one of the country’s best chances before the first ball was struck, and Gabriel Diallo’s run ended after a promising start.
Diallo earned a meaningful win over Kyrian Jacquet for his first main-draw victory in Montreal, but his next match ended in retirement against Luciano Darderi. The Canadian trailed 6-4, 2-3 when he stopped playing, closing the door on any local presence in the round of 16.
Even without a Canadian man left in the bracket, the atmosphere in Montreal should stay strong. Shelton, Ruud, Fonseca, Fils, and Griekspoor give the stadium plenty of names that can still drive interest deep into the weekend.
Toronto’s Women’s Field Is Holding Steady
Toronto has offered a much more stable picture on the women’s side. Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and Mirra Andreeva all moved through their first matches and remain firmly in the title conversation.
Sabalenka, as world No. 1, continues to look like the player everyone else must solve. She opened with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Moyuka Uchijima and extended her hard-court winning streak to 13 matches. On Toronto’s quick courts, her serve and pace off both wings remain a major edge.
Rybakina also stayed alive after a more demanding match. She needed three sets to beat Daria Kasatkina, coming through 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 33 minutes. The numbers were uneven, with 58 winners matched by 58 unforced errors, but the raw shot-making still showed why she is among the top threats.
That balance is what makes Rybakina so intriguing. When she controls the ball cleanly, few players can withstand her power. When the errors start to climb, the picture changes fast. She is still very much in the hunt, both for the title and, in the right scenario, for a possible move in the rankings.
Gauff and Pegula have also handled the early rounds with the kind of resilience that matters in a short event. Gauff beat qualifier Kayla Day 6-2, 7-5, using speed and defense to settle key rallies. Pegula had an even tougher start, dropping the first set to Magdalena Frech before turning the match around and winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Pegula’s comfort in Canada should not be overlooked. She has won this tournament twice, in 2023 and 2024, and she understands how to manage the North American hard-court summer better than most of her rivals.
Andreeva may have produced the most impressive opening performance of them all. The 19-year-old beat former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-2 in just 54 minutes, looking calm, precise, and fully in control from the start. Her mix of patience, defense, and timing makes her far more than a novelty at this stage of the season.
Leylah Fernandez Keeps the Host Nation Alive
For Canadian fans, Leylah Fernandez is now the final remaining local hope in singles. She advanced by defeating Renata Zarazúa 6-2, 6-2 in front of the home crowd and controlled the match with steady aggression.
Fernandez was broken only once and converted five breaks of serve, which is exactly the kind of efficient performance she needs at this stage. Her next opponent, Elise Mertens, presents a tougher test because of her experience, rally tolerance, and ability to force long exchanges.
Fernandez will likely need to stay brave and take the ball early. When she gets into attack mode and pulls opponents out of position with her forehand, she can trouble almost anyone. The challenge is doing that consistently under the weight of home expectations.
Even before her next match, Fernandez was carrying the country’s last singles hope, which adds another layer of pressure. Still, she has already shown that she can handle loud settings and big moments when the match tightens.
Sportsnet and TVA Sports are carrying the National Bank Open in Canada, with coverage from both Montreal and Toronto throughout the event. Viewers should still verify the order of play before each session, since conditions and match length can affect the start times.
The round of 16 should reveal whether Montreal’s chaos continues or whether a few players begin to separate themselves from the pack. It should also show whether Toronto’s top names keep moving in lockstep or whether the women’s draw starts to produce its own surprises.
For now, Shelton and Ruud look like the safest men’s bets, while Sabalenka, Rybakina, Gauff, Pegula, and Andreeva remain the major forces in Toronto. For Canadian supporters, Fernandez is the player to follow most closely as the weekend unfolds.