Four players aged 20 or under reached the fourth round of the National Bank Open, filling a quarter of the last 16 at a Masters 1000 that has lost almost every name it was built around.
Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar, both 19, are the first pair of teenagers to reach the last 16 at the Canadian event since Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018, according to the ATP. Learner Tien and Jakub Mensik, both 20, complete the group.
The teenagers. Fonseca, seeded 22nd and ranked 27th, has not dropped a set. He beat Tsitsipas 7-6(3), 7-5 and then Casper Ruud 7-6(6), 6-3 on Friday night, a second win over the Norwegian this season after eliminating him at Roland Garros in June. It is his third Masters 1000 fourth round of the year and his first in Canada. Jodar arrived in Montreal off a runner-up finish in Washington and beat Corentin Moutet and then Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-3 — his second win over Musetti inside seven days. The Spaniard is at a career-high No. 15 and sits 11th in the Live Race to Turin.
The 20-year-olds. Tien beat Gael Monfils and then Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-2 in humid conditions on centre court, and is the youngest man to reach the last 16 in Canada in consecutive years since Shapovalov in 2017 and 2018. Mensik, the 13th seed, got past Jake Fearnley and Terence Atmane 6-4, 7-5, closing each set by taking the final three games. It is his second Masters 1000 fourth round of the season after Madrid, and with Jiri Lehecka also through, it is the first time two Czechs have reached the last 16 in Canada since Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in 2016.
The vacuum. The draw opened before any of them played a shot. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic withdrew before the tournament, Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled out of his second-round match with a back injury, and top seed Alexander Zverev lost to Tallon Griekspoor. Seven of the top 10 seeds were gone by Thursday, and defending champion Ben Shelton is the only top-10 player left in the field.
What it does and does not prove. An open draw explains the opportunity, not the conversion. Fonseca’s two wins came against a Grand Slam champion and a former world No. 2, both in straight sets. Jodar’s came against a player he had already beaten at an ATP 500 the week before. Mensik won the Miami Masters 1000 in 2025 and reached the Roland Garros semifinals this year. None of the four needed the vacuum to arrive; they needed it to arrive all at once.
The real test is whether any of them converts. Jodar plays Lehecka on Saturday night. Fonseca meets Shelton on Sunday, a rematch of a Munich quarter-final the American won earlier this season and a match neither has yet given up a set to reach. Mensik faces Botic van de Zandschulp, and Tien plays Thiago Tirante. Two of the four fourth-round matches involving under-21s carry a seeded opponent; the other two do not.
