ATP Tour: What to look forward to during North American swing in August

ATP Tour
Andrey Rublev delighted ATP Tour

We are on the cusp of the eighth month of the year and the ATP Tour is now well and truly back in full force.

The main focus of August is the build-up to the US Open which gets underway on 29 August 2022.

As a result, the hard court events in North America will be the focus for the tour’s top players even now.

Every ATP Tour event in August will be played outdoors on hard courts and will be staged in North America.

When it comes to the big three, participation is set to be severely limited with Roger Federer not ready to return, Rafael Nadal battling a series of niggling injuries alongside the treatment for the Muller-Weiss disease that has dogged him for much of the latter portion of his career, and Novak Djokovic still unwilling to get vaccinated to secure entry to the United States and Canada.

Political pressure is building on US President Joe Biden with the fourth Grand Slam of the year at risk of being devoid of superstar attractions.

Daniil Medvedev down and out

World No 1 Daniil Medvedev will be allowed to enter the United States and all Russian and Belarussian players allowed to play under a neutral flag at the US Open and on the North American swing.

Politics aside, Medvedev and fellow top ten Russian Andrey Rublev will bolster the quality on show having missed all the grass court events in the UK including Wimbledon.

However, there will be some big attractions, with Nick Kyrgios and Andy Murray on the entry list for the first tournament in the month of August, which is the Citi Open in Washington DC.

Andy Murray delighted

The Citi Open is an ATP 500 tournament with 48 main draw men’s singles spots.

Rublev is the highest-ranked player on the entry list but there are plenty of strong contenders in the field including an increasingly competitive American contingent.

The opening week of August also features the ATP 250 Abierto de Tenis Mifel in Los Cabos, Mexico which has surprisingly drawn the entry of the World No 1 Medvedev and fellow top ten player Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie has been handed a third seeding for the Los Cabos event.

As things stand, Djokovic has not entered either of the tournaments in the opening week but remains on the entry list for the back-to-back ATP 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati despite numerous obstacles to his participation.

The National Bank Open in Montreal is the sixth Masters event of the season and has attracted entries from all of the top 20 players on the ATP Rankings.

Following the jaunt to Canada, the ATP tour hits the US Midwest for the Western and Southern Open also known as the Cincinatti Masters.

The field is set to be stacked in Cincy as well, although injuries could still chip away at the impressive preliminary list.

The Winston-Salem Open might also fall victim to fickle ATP Tour professionals who feel they have adequately prepared for the US Open, leaving only those seeking court time or those hungry for every tournament win they can get.

ATP Tour August Schedule

Citi Open: Washington, DC, U.S.A from 2022.08.01 to 2022.08.07
Total Financial Commitment: $2,108,110

Abierto de Tenis Mifel: Los Cabos, Mexico from 2022.08.01 to 2022.08.06
Total Financial Commitment: $920,625

National Bank Open Presented by Rogers: Montreal, Canada from 2022.08.07 to 2022.08.14
Total Financial Commitment: $6,573,785

Western & Southern Open: Cincinnati, OH, U.S.A from 2022.08.14 to 2022.08.21
Total Financial Commitment: $6,971,275

Winston-Salem Open: Winston-Salem, NC, U.S.A from 2022.08.21 to 2022.08.27
Total Financial Commitment: $823,420

US Open: NY, U.S.A from 2022.08.29 to 2022.09.11
Total Financial Commitment: TBA

Daniil Medvedev Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal

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