Tennis fans around the world will be watching Toronto and Montreal over the next week, as the National Bank Open gets underway Saturday August 5th.

The men are playing in Toronto, the women in Montreal.

Karl Hale is the tournament director and says it’s a new era in men’s tennis, with the arrival of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

“This kid is so special, he’s 20 years old, he’s taken the tennis world by storm and now he’s going to take the world by storm,” Hale told CP24, “Also, you have Holger Rune, who’s kind of like the bad boy of tennis now, he’s taking over for Nick Kyrgios, a super talented exciting player. There’s (Jannik) Sinner from Italy, an up and comer as well. So we have a new group that’s taking over from the big 3 and we’re really excited to see them here in Toronto.”

One of the highlights of the Toronto tournament will be a celebration of Canada’s Davis Cup team which won the event last year. That takes place Monday evening (August 7th).

The Canadian men in action at the Toronto event include Felix Auger Aliassime, who’s 12th in the world, and Milos Raonic, who’s trying to make a comeback.

Unfortunately, Denis Shapovalov had to pull out due to injury.

Qualifying for the National Bank Open starts Saturday August 5th.