ATP Tour news: Montreal Masters delivers shocks aplenty
The North American hard court season is well underway, with last week’s Washington Open swiftly followed by the Canada Masters 1000.
The event, which alternates between Toronto and Montreal, has yielded first-time Masters champions in its last four editions and has not experienced home hands on the trophy since 1958.
This time in Montreal, those who prefer adventure over familiarity have been rewarded, as a combination of top players withdrawing and several shock results have formed one of the most unlikely spectacles imaginable.
Sports News Blitz writer and tennis fan AJ Becker takes a closer look at the stories behind four of the most striking surprise results.
Griekspoor grinds his way back
Tallon Griekspoor held a dismal 12-20 record across all competitions this year prior to arriving in Montreal, having not won back-to-back matches at tour level since his improbable run to the final of Dubai at the end of February – which had been the sole highlight of a deeply disappointing season.
This Canada contest has brought the Dutchman the revival he so desperately needed, as he pulled off a stunning upset over top seed and tournament favourite Alexander Zverev.
Even after losing the first set tie-break, Griekspoor played as if his life depended on it, never letting the audience nor his body know he had entered his thirties!
Griekspoor is a heart-on-sleeve player and has a seemingly endless range of emotions on display; the Zverev match saw him running the gamut from overjoyed to exasperated, focused to infuriated.
Although the fitness problems which have prevented him from consistently playing at his best were to resurface in a heavy defeat to Spain’s Daniel Merida, Griekspoor reached the fourth round of a Masters event for the fifth time in his career, and once again proved he can compete with the elite on his day.
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Tirante takes advantage of Fritz fatigue
Thiago Agustin Tirante was a player who fit neatly into the confines of the ‘clay court specialist’, without doing much to distinguish himself from the legions of similarly described South American competitors.
Now, the confidence gained from his performances have been evident in his hard court play, helping him climb to a career-high ranking of #52 and elevating his year to standout status.
Despite struggling to defeat qualifier Duncan Chan (the world no. 606) in the first round, Tirante capitalised upon recent Washington champion Taylor Fritz's fatigue in the second, attaining his first top 20 victory on a hard surface.
The 25-year-old Argentine then took out Montreal’s most recent champion Alexei Popyrin – whose fortunes have slid alarmingly of late – to achieve his maiden last 16 placing on hard courts, supplementing the trio of clay quarter-finals already banked.
Norrie comes back from the brink
Cameron Norrie's courageous comeback against Alex de Minaur at the third round stage can also be classed as a surprise, considering how close the British player was to defeat.
The left-hander trailed by a set and 2-5 before breaking de Minaur’s serve twice, edging the second set tie-break and dominating the decider to secure a second top 10 scalp of 2026. Norrie’s trademark never-say-die spirit and battle-hardened mentality was in evidence throughout.
Montreal directly followed his sole semi-final of the season at Los Cabos; the Texas Christian University alumnus has rich history in the region, with all five of his Masters quarter-finals occurring on North American hard courts.
On the receiving end of Norrie’s only other top 10 win this year was...de Minaur. The Australian’s ample tennis talents have not been adequately reflected in his abysmal Masters record – only nine quarter-finals or better in 60 such tournaments – and with elite names such as Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic absent from Montreal, it amounts to yet another opportunity missed for the 27-year-old.
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Botic’s annual underdog win
For most of the past three years, Botic van de Zandschulp has been unable to match the formidable benchmarks of the Netherlands’ magnificent tennis past.
Nevertheless, whilst struggling for consistency and often producing below-par tennis, he has the ability to execute sensational one-off results on North American hard courts.
Memorable triumphs over Alcaraz at the 2024 US Open and Djokovic at Indian Wells 2025 were joined by the 2026 equivalent in Montreal: erstwhile champion and world no. 6 Daniil Medvedev was dismantled in straight sets, with the Dutchman displaying a depth and an intensity largely absent from his performances this year.
His comeback against Hubert Hurkacz – in which he saved consecutive match points on return in the second set – ensured a third round of 16 appearance at a Masters event for the former world No. 22, who had not won back-to-back matches since the Rome Masters in May.
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