The Canadian Masters has been stretched over the space of around twelve days like so many of the big Masters events and that has replaced the old format of the Tour when this event and the Cincinnati Masters would be played in a fortnight.
It also means that some of the players who were competing in the Finals of events at the last tournament have had little time to prepare for a Masters event that began on Sunday and that has cost Leylah Fernandez in her home tournament.
She did win the title prior to the Canadian Masters beginning, but I am sure she would have liked to have had a bigger impact here in Montreal and it may be something that the Tour have to fix in the years ahead.
We move onto the Third Round on Thursday, but finding selections has not been easy with just the sole pick made on the day.
The tournament totals will be added to this thread on Thursday morning once the final selection from Wednesday has been completed in the early hours of the day.
Alexander Zverev - 3.5 games v Matteo Arnaldi: After having to go through the Big Three in his younger days, it feels like a path towards a maiden Grand Slam title remains very difficult for Alexander Zverev with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominating.
He did reach the Australian Open Final earlier this season and Alexander Zverev has reached the Quarter Final twice, the Semi Final and the Final in the last four appearances at the US Open.
However, the World Number 3 was beaten in the First Round at Wimbledon and admitted that he was feeling the pressures both on and off the court. In theory the life of a top professional athlete seems to be very fortunate, but Alexander Zverev spoke of the feeling of loneliness during the grind of a Tour and his early exit at Wimbledon really did hurt.
Alexander Zverev more than deserved his win in the Second Round, even if the scoreline was far more competitive than it felt it should be.
With the likes of Alcaraz, Sinner and Novak Djokovic all missing in Toronto, Alexander Zverev does have a chance to lay down a marker for the final Grand Slam of the season and also boost his own confidence.
Next up is a match against Matteo Arnaldi, the World Number 41 who is yet another Italian making an impact on the Tour.
Of course it is tough to reach the heights of Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti and Jasmine Paolini, but Matteo Arnaldi has cracked the top 30 in the World Rankings. That was twelve months ago and he does have some big points to defend having reached the Semi Final at the Canadian Masters in 2024, although Arnaldi has struggled for some consistency on the hard courts this season.
Last week in Washington, Matteo Arnaldi was beaten by Taylor Fritz and he has lost five of the nine hard court matches played against top 50 Ranked opponents in 2025. The serve can be a very effective weapon for Matteo Arnaldi and that was the case when he pushed Alexander Zverev in Acapulco, albeit in a losing effort.
He will have to serve more effectively than he did last week against Taylor Fritz if this is going to be a match he can win, but that might be beyond Matteo Arnaldi.
Alexander Zverev looked in decent shape in the Second Round win and he can build on that by finding the breaks of serve needed to cover this handicap mark set.
MY PICKS: Alexander Zverev - 3.5 Games @ 1.70 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 3-1, + 1.42 Units (4 Units Staked, + 35.50% Yield)
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