Top five favourites to win women's singles title at Canadian Open 2026

A strong WTA field will mark the beginning of the summer sweep.

The Canadian Open 2026 women’s tournament begins on August 1 in Toronto, with main draw matches from August 2 at Sobeys Stadium. This marks the 124th edition of the WTA Masters 1000 event, featuring an expanded 96-player singles draw for the first time.

The WTA field is stacked, with Karolina Muchova being the only top-10 player missing from the competition. Defending champion Victoria Mboko has been ruled out of her home tournament due to a left knee injury sustained during the grass-court season.

Also Read: Why are top tennis players withdrawing from Canadian Open 2026?

Women’s singles title favourites at Canadian Open 2026

5. Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff returns to her most preferred surface with the hopes of winning the first title of her 2026 season.

The American enters the Masters event after her best-ever outing at Wimbledon, having reached the final four. As a three-time quarter-finalist in Toronto, Gauff will be aiming to find her best form as the build-up for the all-important US Open intensifies.

4. Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka has been showing signs of resurgence since the start of this season, and her recent performances have confirmed that the Japanese star is close to her best again.

Osaka stunned top seed Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon recently and also reached the final in Bad Homburg.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion is healthy and fit again, producing her best tennis on hard courts. The Canadian conditions will bring a case of familiarity for Osaka, who was a finalist here in 2025.

The 28-year-old will hope to go the distance this time around, as she hopes to build strong momentum ahead of the final major event of the year.

3. Jessica Pegula

Current World No. 3 Jessica Pegula returns to the Canadian Open, where she has enjoyed tremendous success in the past.

As a two-time champion at the venue, Pegula will look to bounce back from a highly disappointing Wimbledon 2026 campaign, where she missed perhaps her best chance yet to win a maiden Grand Slam title.

The American No. 1 has always been excellent on hard courts, but her serving has been a letdown recently. She will look to return to serving aces, which she had been doing at the start of the season, to claim her third National Bank Open trophy.

2. Elena Rybakina

Reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina started the year 2026 with a bang, but has lost her way since triumphing in Stuttgart. The race to the World No. 1 ranking seems to have mounted further pressure on the Kazakh, who failed to deliver at the French Open and the entire grass season.

Rybakina’s returns on grass and at Wimbledon, a competition where she had lifted her first Grand Slam, have dwindled significantly in recent times. However, with an extended break, the World No. 2 will hope to regain her mojo on the hard court surfaces.

She had reached the semi-finals in Montreal last year and will be looking to make an even deeper run this time around. Rybakina still has the best chance to surpass Sabalenka for the #1 ranking, but an early exit in Toronto here might end her World No. 1 ranking chances.

1. Aryna Sabalenka

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will start as the hot favourite for the Canadian Open 2026 title, having won three hard-court titles already this year, including the Sunshine Double. However, she lost the one that mattered the most (AO).

Since Miami, Sabalenka has not managed to clinch a title, which has been one of the most shocking stories of the first half of the 2026 calendar year. Hoping to return to winning ways, Sabalenka will be aiming to find her best tennis in Toronto to claim her first-ever Canadian Open title.

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