Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime have not won matches at the National Bank Open in Canada since 2019 and 2022, respectively.
They both blamed “injuries” for failures in 2026. Shapovalov, citing a leg injury, retired in the third set. Auger-Aliassime withdrew before his first match. He said he hurt his back in practice the previous day.
As per their court filings, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime claim to reside in the tax havens of Bahamas and Monaco, respectively. Canada’s Revenue Agency collects federal and provincial taxes on their prize winnings in Canada. Both players reportedly earned 36,000 dollars each (before taxes) in Montreal because tournament organizers Tennis Canada gave them first-round byes.
Fans and media in Canada, who normally support Canadian athletes, slammed them online for blowing chances to win their first ever Masters 1000 title while Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic skip Montreal to rest for other tournaments.
It wasn’t always this bad. Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime were hyped as future grand slam champions.
In 2019, Felix beat Canadian icons Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic in Montreal before losing to Karen Kachanov. In 2021, he lost his only match to Dusan Lajovic. In 2022, he beat Yoshihito Nishioka and Cameron Norrie before losing to Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
He was then defeated out of the gate by Max Purcell in 2023, Flavio Coboli in 2024 and Fabian Maroszan in 2025. Entering the tournament ranked number 4 in the world, Felix withdrew in Montreal before his first match, citing a back injury in practice the previous day. He also recently fired his longtime coach Fred Fontang after losing a 5-hour Wimbledon quarterfinal to Djokovic.
Shapovalov burst onto the scene at age 18 by beating top-seeded Rafa Nadal to reach the semi-finals in Montreal.
At age 21, he cracked the ATP top 10 but then dropped as low as 140 after injuries in 2023 and 2024.
He has struggled more at the National Bank Open than any other tournament.
In 2019, Shapovalov beat Pierre Hugues-Herbert before losing to Dominic Thiem. He has lost every match since then. He lost to Francis Tiafoe in 2021, Alex de Minaur in 2022, Brandon Nakashima in 2024 (after sitting out Toronto in 2023), and Learner Tien in 2025.
In 2026, he retired down 6-4, 4-6, 0-3 to Zachary Svajda in Montreal. Shapovalov cited a leg injury and fatigue after reaching the final in Los Cabos, Mexico.
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