Canadian Open match cancelled as nightmare luck continues for organisers

The Canadian Open took another blow as the quarter-final match between Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic in Toronto was cancelled at the 11th hour when Bencic suddenly pulled out. The No. 12 seed revealed that she had been feeling some discomfort in the hip, and took to the Centre Court to address the crowd. Gauff advanced to the semis via walkover.

It’s been a tough week for organisers, as Bencic became the second player to withdraw from the WTA 1000 event in Toronto, while there have been five mid-match retirements. Over in Montreal, which is simultaneously playing host to the ATP Masters 1000 event, there has been one withdrawal and four retirements, which includes three Canadian players.

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No. 2 seed and home favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled out of the tournament hours before his opening match last week. His countrymen, Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo, had already been forced to retire from their own matches.

There have also been countless rain delays in both Toronto and Montreal. One day before the women’s quarter-final between Bencic and Gauff was cancelled, two of the four men’s quarter-finals in Montreal had to be postponed altogether.

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Rafael Jodar vs Arthur Fils and Brandon Nakashima vs Luciano Darderi were scheduled to be played on Monday night. But rain and thunderstorms meant they were never able to take to the court. The night session was cancelled, and the four men had to return on Tuesday afternoon.

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The men’s quarter-finals were finally completed, but it was the WTA event in Toronto which took a knock when Bencic had to pull out. In a statement shared on social media, the tournament said: “Belinda Bencic has withdrawn from the NBO due to an injury (hip).

“As a result, the second singles match between Naomi Osaka and Elena Rybakina has been moved up to not before 7:30 p.m. Coco Gauff, who was scheduled to face Bencic, advances to the semi-finals via walkover.”

Bencic released her own statement, which read: “I am really sorry to not be able to compete tonight. This is an amazing tournament and I was really looking forward to playing in front of the great fans here in Toronto,” said Bencic in a statement. “I tried everything possible to be ready for tonight. Looking forward to being back in Toronto next time.”

The 2020 Olympic champion did, however, step out onto the Centre Court to address the fans and apologise. “I really tried all I could to be ready for tonight. I have some hip issues. I tried to warm-up, I tried to take painkillers, and it didn’t really work,” she added.

After receiving a walkover, Gauff will now face Elena Rybakina in the semis, after the No. 2 seed came back from behind to beat Naomi Osaka 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4. In the other semi-final, Iga Swiatek meets Elina Svitolina.

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