World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka arrived in Toronto for the 2026 Canadian Open, which begins with main draw action on Monday. This will be her first tournament of the American hardcourt swing.
As is customary, Sabalenka took part in pre-tournament press, which usually involves solo interactions with members of the various media outlets. She, however, had her own unique take on how tennis handles the press side of things.
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Taking to X, the World No. 1 suggested switching the traditional tennis press conferences to those akin to F1 wherein all top athletes sit together and take the media queries in the room. She said having the top-10 seeds at every tournament come together and do a single multi-player press conference would be a “fun” idea.
“How about pre tournament media to be changed? Top 10 players together for press conference? F1 style? Fun no?” Aryna Sabalenka wrote in a post on X.
Notably, tennis has never experimented with multi-player press conferences outside of team competitions like the Davis Cup, the Billie Jean King Cup and even the United and Laver Cups more recently. In F1 though, drivers are grouped together in collective media sessions and press conferences. The latter form of press setup is known to not only spark banter between players but also saves time while giving fans deeper insight into the personalities of their favorite sporting stars.
Aryna Sabalenka to lead strong field at Canadian Open
Aryna Sabalenka will lead a strong field at this year’s Canadian Open as the top seed. She will be looking to put up a strong showing as this is her first competition of the US Open swing and also her first since Wimbledon.
As the top seed, she will anchor the top half of the draw. She will open her campaign against either Moyuka Uchijima or Cristina Bucsa. The other big seeds in her quarter include Amanda Anisimova and Elina Svitolina.
The likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina anchor the bottom half of the draw. Victoria Mboko had won the title last year, beating Noami Osaka in the final but will not compete this year due to a knee injury sustained during the grass swing.
Sabalenka and Rybakina are in contention for the World No. 1 ranking. Rybakina can attain the top ranking if she wins the title and Sabalenka falls before the quarterfinals.
Edited by Vedant Chandel