The Cincinnati Open final will now be played on a Monday (Image: Getty)
The Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open have released their new schedules, with the finals being staged at bizarre times.
The two top tournaments are the latest in the joint and 1000 series to extend their draws to 96 players and to be staged over a long period of 12 days each.
Unlike some of the other longer Masters 1000 events, Canada and Cincinnati will share a three-week block in the calendar, meaning the championship matches won’t take place on a Sunday as usual.
From 2025, seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000s will use the 12-day, 96-player format. In recent years, the tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, and Shanghai have already been expanded to last almost two weeks each.
And the competitions in Canada and Cincinnati will follow suit this year. While the other extended events often start on a Wednesday and finish on the following Sunday, the North American summer tournaments will use a different set-up.
Traditionally, back-to-back Masters 1000s like those in Indian Wells and Miami are held over four weeks, with a couple of days off between the final of the first tournament and the first round of the second event.
However, the Canadian Open—staged in Montreal and Toronto—and the Cincinnati Open will run together over three weeks.
The Canadian Open will start on a Sunday and end on a Thursday (Image: Getty)
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The main draw in Canada begins on Sunday, July 27, and the first-round matches will span the first two days.
The men’s ATP event will be held in Toronto this year, while the WTA edition will be held in Montreal. They alternate every season.
The last day of the Canadian Open will be Thursday, August 7, when the finals will be contested.
The main draw will get underway in Cincinnati on the same day. First-round matches will also be played on Friday, August 8.
The men’s semi-finals are set to take place on Saturday, August 16, with the women’s semis the following day. Both singles finals will be played on Monday, August 18.
It leaves just under a week for players to prepare for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open.
The American hard-court Major starting on Sunday, August 26.