Tennis News: Jannik Sinner. Denis Shapovalov and Ben Shelton

When the Canadian Open gets underway this week, the event will be watered down by all the players who are not participating. This is mostly due to the Olympics running into the week, especially in terms of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz playing in the final and choosing not to play in Canada. Because of this, Jannik Sinner is getting a bit of a break.

Not that Sinner hasn't earned his own breaks this year. The current ATP No. 1 had a brilliant start to the year, though his success has slowed some. Based on how well he played in the second half of 2023 coupled with his 2024 start, he should be ranked No. 1. The issue for him is that he is now going to begin to run into a lot of tournaments where he has to defend a large number of points.

Sinner was in Canada last year which means he has 1,000 ranking points to defend. The points will drop ahead of the tournament and Sinner will have 8,580 points. Djokovic will have 8,460 points (he won't be dropping any as he did not play in the event in 2023), and Alcaraz will have 7,950 by the time the Canadian Open starts.

Jannik Sinner holds on while Ben Shelton and Denis Shapovalov are shocked

Because Alcaraz and Djokovic are not playing in the tournament, Sinner is assured of holding onto his No. 1 ranking for now. That might easily change by the time the US Open is done in September, though.

At last week's Citi Open in Washington, DC, Denis Shapovalov was playing Ben Shelton when the Canadian began to get into a bit of a spat with a spectator. This was after Shapovalov had thrown his racket to the ground and then said something - curse words included - to a fan. Nothing that happened appeared to be worthy of a disqualification but the Canadian still was.

Lots of players have come to Shapovalov's defense, and rightfully so. Chris Eubanks asked on social media, "I’m curious what you can possibly say to a spectator that’ll get you defaulted..."

Shelton argued on behalf of Shapovalov at the end of the match. Even he was astounded that the Canadian was kicked out of the match. At the net after the match, Shelton even implied an apology. The American wanted to win, but not that way.

In his post-match press conference, Shelton wanted nothing to do with answering questions about what had happened to Shapovalov. He said, "I think it was a tough situation all around. I don't really have any other comments on that situation. Just looking forward to the semifinals. Love to talk about the tennis or the tennis that's going to be played tomorrow. I just kind of want to let it rest."

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