The Canadian Open has been somewhat of a mess this year. To be fair to the event, part of the problem was that before the first ball was struck, many players had already withdrawn. But that could have been overcome with a format change and better planning.
Like with many 1000 tournaments, the Canadian Open is now played out over almost two weeks. It is one of the more important events, as 1000s are just under majors in terms of the tennis hierarchy. But the event in Canada doesn't act much like a meaningful tournament.
Having Alex Eala, a rising Filipina with a massive following, play only night matches was a risk. Many fans skipped the day matches only to show up in the evening. This didn't make the tournament more money, and likely less had it moved Eala's matches around a bit more.
Canadian Open's schedule is causing problems
But that was only part of the scheduling fiasco. Once the quarterfinals began, there were no day matches, and focusing solely on evening matches is a mistake both for those who live near the venues and for viewers on streaming and TV.
That is because fans have to choose which matches to watch because the Canadian Open splits the play between the ATP and WTA sides between Toronto and Montreal, so fans have to choose which city they want to visit, thereby cutting the revenue for each city in half. Having the men and women play at the same time in the same tournament in two different cities is simply ridiculous.
What would have been better for fans is, if the tournament is going to be split between two cities, to have a day session for both the men and women and an evening session too. Only four matches are held in singles for the quarterfinals on Monday and Tuesday, and staging them throughout the day would have been smarter.
The first women's match of the day could be held at 12 pm ET and the men's at 2 pm ET. The evening matches could be held at 6 pm and 7:30 pm, respectively. Fans at home could catch every match, meaning that sponsors who pay for ads would have their commercials be seen without fans needing to divide their attention between two matches at the same time for no reason.
To be clear, the matches for the quarterfinals don't start at the exact same times, but are close enough to cause issues. For instance, on Monday, Rafael Jodar and Arthur Fils were the first men's quarterfinal match, and that began at 6 pm ET. The first women's match was at 7 pm ET. This likely meant that just when the men's match was reaching its apex, the women's match would start.
That kind of scheduling is unfair to the players and fans. With only four matches, they could have been lined up all day. Maybe those going to the event would not come back for the evening session or not go to the afternoon one, but that was going to happen anyway, and not helped by the Canadian Open holding the tournament in two different cities every year.
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