Taylor Fritz believes there would be no "harm" in Novak Djokovic competing at the US Open, although the American admits he is conflicted about whether he should be allowed.

Wimbledon champion Djokovic has his route to Flushing Meadows blocked by red tape at present, with the United States refusing to allow unvaccinated foreign visitors to enter the country.

US tennis authorities have pledged to adhere to government rulings surrounding COVID-19 protocols, despite including Djokovic on their entry list.

For Djokovic to be allowed into the United States, it appears he would require a change of policy from law-makers, or he would have to be considered suitable for an exemption.

Among those who would be eligible for such an exemption are "persons whose entry would be in the national interest".

With 21 grand slam titles, Djokovic sits second on the men's all-time list behind Rafael Nadal, who has 22 victories at the majors. 

And Fritz, ranked 13th in the world, said that while the situation is complicated, there is part of him that thinks Djokovic should be allowed to take part in the competition that starts in under a fortnight.

"It's tough," he said. "I think on one side of it, I think it's tough to make certain exceptions to the rules for certain people.

"I don't know how I feel about that, but then, at the same time, we're not the most COVID-safe country in general with how we are doing things.

"So it does seem like, what's the harm of letting the best player in the world come play the US Open?

"But like I said, at the same time, it's conflicting, because I don't know how I feel about making special exceptions just for one person because of who they are.

"So I see both sides of the argument, to be honest. It's tough to differentiate, obviously. It's good for every player if Novak is not in the draw."

Pablo Carreno-Busta came back from a set down to mount a superb comeback against Hubert Hurkacz and win the first ATP 1000 event of his career on Sunday.

The Spaniard became the first unseeded player to win the tournament since Guilhermo Canas in 2002 after weathering an early storm to shock the eighth seed 3-6 6-3 6-3 in Montreal.

Having come through a gruelling semi-final encounter with Dan Evans to reach his first ATP 1000 final in singles, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist struggled to deal with his opponent's impressive slew of aces in the first set, and saw his serve broken in the sixth game.

But a ruthless start to the second set saw Carreno-Busta break early, racing out to a 3-0 lead and holding his nerve to keep the gap to his Polish opponent, who was chasing a second ATP 1000 crown.

World number 10 Hurkacz attempted to rally with a fine start to the third set, but another loss of serve effectively stalled his momentum and Carreno-Busta was able to take the victory.

The result marks a much-needed boost for Carreno-Busta, who suffered first-round exits at the French Open and Wimbledon after making the last-16 in Australia, with the U.S. Open set to start later this month.

Serena Williams is "one of the greatest of all time", says fellow tennis legend Rafael Nadal as the 23-time grand slam winner prepares to hang up her racquet.

The 40-year-old, one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, signalled her intent to "evolve away" from the game in an interview with Vogue Magazine earlier this month, hinting at her retirement following the U.S. Open in September.

With just shy of two-dozen grand slam singles titles, Williams trails only Margaret Court for the all-time record of 24 crowns, and could equal her in her farewell appearance.

Nadal, meanwhile, lies one behind her after victory in the Australian Open and French Open this year took him clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to 22, though the former's win at Wimbledon has seen him close the gap again.

The duo are set to feature at this week's Western and Southern Open, where Williams will face incumbent U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, and the Spaniard - who will mark his return from injury - has nothing but praise for his fellow giant of the game.

"She is one of the greatest sports [people] of all time," he stated. "I feel lucky to share a tour for a long period of time with her.

"Of course, from a selfish point of view, it's sad that she's leaving the tour but, on the other hand, we can't thank her enough for all the things that she did for our sport.

"I think she's an amazing inspiration for a lot of people around the world and I think she deserves to choose whatever works for her better at this stage of her life.

"So I wish her all the best. Hopefully, we can keep seeing her around the tour because I always believe that our sport, or the sport in general, is bigger and better when legends are around and she is a legend.

"Hopefully, we can enjoy her in a different way around the tour."

Nadal was forced to withdraw ahead of the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year with an abdominal tear, and now faces a potentially nervy run through to the U.S. Open in terms of fitness.

But the 36-year-old is cautiously optimistic, adding: "I hope to be ready. That's what I'm trying to do. Try to be a little more conservative, but I hope I can be ready to play.

"Of course, I need some more days to analyse how things are going in terms of abdominal feeling.

"But things are going well for the moment, so hopefully I can manage to be ready. I'm excited. I want to play tennis again on the tour. I'm having a good season, I'm enjoying it, so I want to enjoy this week in Cincinnati."

Hubert Hurkacz will contest the second ATP 1000 final of his career after coming from a set behind to defeat world number five Casper Ruud 5-7 6-3 6-2 in the semi-final of the Canadian Open on Saturday.

It was an interesting clash of styles going into the contest, with Hurkacz expected to rely on his dominant serve, while Ruud is one of the game's top returners, so when Ruud responded to an early break and was the one serving up a storm, it spelled trouble for the world number 10.

Ruud landed 78 per cent of his first serves in the opening set, compared to 60 per cent for Hurkacz, and the Norwegian won 95 per cent of those points (20-of-21) to allow just one break point in the frame while creating four for himself.

As Ruud's serve began to falter – with his first serve accuracy and effectiveness both cratering in the second and third set – his game began to struggle to hold up to the metronomic consistency of Hurkacz, who won the ace count 18-to-eight.

After pulling the match even at one set each, Hurkacz took the contest by the scruff of the neck and won the first four games of the deciding frame to pull away.

Poland's Hurkacz – who won his only previous ATP 1000 final against Jannik Sinner at the 2021 Miami Open – will now face Pablo Carreno-Busta in the decider after the Spaniard prevailed in a three-hour war of attrition against Daniel Evans 7-5 6-7 (7-9) 6-2.

In a match that was close in every area, Carreno-Busta was slightly better, winning 68 per cent (68-of-100) of his service points compared to 60 per cent (66-of-110) for Evans, while committing just one double fault compared to the Englishman's six.

It will be Carreno-Busta's first ATP 1000 final appearance, with the 2021 Hamburg Open – an ATP 500 event – the only career title for the 31-year-old above the ATP 250 level.

Nick Kyrgios' red-hot form has been halted after going down in three sets to eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open on Friday.

Hurkacz ran away with victory, triumphing 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 in one hour and 46 minutes in Montreal.

Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios had come into the encounter fresh from winning 15 of his past 16 matches, including lifting the title at last week's Washington Open. Kyrgios' run had fueled expectations around him at the upcoming US Open.

"Nick has been playing some incredible tennis throughout the past weeks, so it is a pleasure playing against him," Hurkacz said post-match in his on-court interview.

"I started really well. Nick was maybe a little bit injured, which might have hurt his serve. With both of us serving so well, that few per cent can make the difference."

Kyrgios was quick on serve but the 25-year-old Pole eventually ground him down, prevailing in the third set aided by an early break.

That break came after Kyrgios gave up two double faults, leading to the Australian to complain to the umpire about his opponent's mid-match break for a change of clothes.

The Australian was unable to break Hurkacz's serve throughout the match, with the Pole edging the aces count 20-19, while he was also superior on return. Kyrgios had more winners (55-47), but more unforced errors (24-13).

Hurkacz, who will face fourth seed Casper Ruud in the semi-finals, is the only former Masters 1000 champion left in the draw.

Ruud cruised into the last four with a 6-1 6-2 victory over hometown hero Felix Auger-Aliassime who was brushed aside in one hour and 14 minutes.

The Norwegian's win marks his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season, with the Canadian plagued by 21 unforced errors compared to Ruud's eight.

Unseeded Briton Daniel Evans fought back from a lopsided opening set to knock off Tommy Paul 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Evans will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta after he defeated Jack Draper 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in just under two hours.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios has now won 15 of his past 16 matches after defeating compatriot Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-3 in the third round of the Canadian Open – with his only loss coming in the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic.

Fresh off his first singles title since 2019 when he won last week's Washington Open, Kyrgios collected his ninth consecutive victory in impressive fashion, showing no difficulty in navigating his first-ever matchup against his fellow countryman.

He won the first four games of the match, and snatched a break in the first game of the second set to book his quarter-final against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

Hurkacz, the eighth seed, had to come back from a set down to defeat Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 7-6 (7-3). He struggled with his serve early, with four double faults in the opening frame, but cleaned it up as the match went on, double-faulting only once in the last two sets.

England's top hope Cameron Norrie suffered a disappointing 6-3 6-4 defeat at the hands of world number nine Felix Auger-Aliassime, but Daniel Evans and Jack Draper made it through to fly the flag.

Evans pulled off an upset win to beat 10th seed Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-5, and 20-year-old Draper was up a set when 17th seed Gael Monfils retired with an injury at 6-2 0-2.

American Tommy Paul claimed another scalp with his 6-4 6-2 victory against 13th seed Marin Cilic, giving him back-to-back wins against top-15 opponents after emerging triumphant against Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

In the final match of the day, Pablo Carreno-Busta beat his third top-30 opponent of the week with a 6-2 6-4 result against Italy's Jannik Sinner, following strong successes against Matteo Berrettini and Holger Rune.

Nick Kyrgios set up a mouth-watering second-round showdown against world number one Daniil Medvedev after defeating Argentina's Sebastian Baez 6-4 6-4 in his opening match of the Canadian Open on Tuesday.

The in-form Kyrgios is coming off his first ATP singles title since 2019 after winning the Washington Open this past week, where he also won the doubles partnered with Jack Sock. 

Against Baez, he served all six of the match's aces to make it through unscathed, and he will now play the top-ranked Russian – who Kyrgios has beaten twice – although he dropped their third meeting at the Australian Open this year.

Dating back to the start of his Wimbledon run, where Kyrgios made his first grand slam final, the Australian has now won 13 of his past 14 matches, with the only loss coming in the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic.

Earlier on, 11th seed Matteo Berrettini was the first upset of the day as he went down 6-3 6-2 against Spain's Pablo Carreno-Busta, while fellow Spaniard Pedro Martinez had less success, getting bounced by France's Gael Monfils 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-2.

America's Tommy Paul delivered a gut-punch to his neighbours in the Great White North by eliminating Canada's own Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-4, and his Canadian compatriot Alexis Galarneau also struggled in his 6-4 7-5 loss to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.

Marin Cilic showed why he is the 13th seed with a strong 6-3 6-2 win in his all-Croatian battle against Borna Coric, and American Maxim Cressy had similar success against Russia's Aslan Karatsev 6-4 6-4.

In a battle of the French it was Adrian Mannarino prevailing 6-3 6-3 against Arthur Rinderknech, and a pair of Englishmen made their way through unscathed as Daniel Evans won a back-and-forth contest against Filip Krajinovic 6-2 1-6 6-0, while Jack Draper returned to his rain-interrupted fixture against Hugo Gaston to finish the job 6-2 6-3.

Alex de Minaur ensured it would be a grim day for the Canadian fans as he eliminated Denis Shapovalov 7-5 7-6 (7-4), before Holger Rune fought off the challenge of Fabio Fognini to emerge a 6-3 7-5 winner.

In the late session, Roberto Bautista-Agut defeated Marcos Giron 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, ninth seed Cameron Norrie needed just over an hour for his straight sets 6-4 6-4 win over Brandon Nakashima, and Andy Murray had no answer for Taylor Fritz as he went down 6-1 6-3.

Yoshihito Nishioka's strong form held up after his runner-up finish at the Washington Open, cruising past Benoit Paire 6-2 6-3, while 25-year-old Botic van de Zanschulp continued his rise up the rankings with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Miomir Kecmanovic.

12th seed Diego Schwartzman needed three sets to navigate the challenge of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 1-6 6-3 6-4, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas got the better of Belgium's David Goffin 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.

In the final match of the night, world number 10 Hubert Hurkacz responded to adversity in the second set to pull out a 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 win against Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori.

Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori collected a big-name scalp on the opening day of the Canadian Open, defeating three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka 6-3 3-6 6-3 on Monday.

Although the 37-year-old Wawrinka is no longer at his best – ranked 322nd in the world – he still put up a strong fight against his 23-year-old opponent, creating eight break point opportunities in the match while facing nine.

Ruusuvuori will play eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round in a tough matchup, while Slovakia's Alex Molcan will play fourth seed Casper Ruud after defeating American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.

Molcan's advantage was in his serve, winning 74 per cent (49-of-66) of his service points compared to 59 per cent (49-of-83) for McDonald.

In a clash between a pair of top-30 talents, Russia's Karen Khachanov got the better of Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3. He will play the winner between 13th seed Marin Cilic and Croatia's Borna Coric next.

Recent runner-up of the Atlanta Open Jenson Brooskby had no issues with Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, winning 6-2 6-3, and he will likely play Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round as the Spaniard leads 7-6 (7-5) 2-1 with a break in the second set when a rain delay ended the day's play.

One of Canada's top hopes, Denis Shapovalov, will have his back up against the wall when his match resumes against Alex de Minaur, losing the first set 7-5, with the rain arriving in the middle of the second-set tiebreaker.

Jack Draper will head back onto the court with a set advantage against Hugo Gaston after winning the opener 6-2, although he will have to save a break point first up.

Nick Kyrgios capped off a terrific week at the Washington Open by beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4 6-3 in the singles final, before combining with Jack Sock to also win the doubles 7-5 6-4 against the team of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

In the singles, Kyrgios' serve was overpowering against his Japanese opponent, winning 76 per cent (38-of-50) of his points on serve, and saving the only break point opportunity he faced, which came early in the opening set.

His return game was also sharp, collecting breaks of serve in the first game of each set to snatch all the momentum and keep Nishioka on the back foot and chasing all day.

Kyrgios finished with 12 aces to Nishioka's three, and finished the match just like he started it with a break of serve.

It caps off a tournament where he dropped only one set in his six matches – against Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-final – to win his first singles title since this same event back in 2019.

Just a few hours later, Kyrgios was back on the court with Sock contesting the doubles final, with the pair saving both break points they faced. 

After an even start, Kyrgios and Sock broke late in the first set, and then struck again to break in the opening game of the second set, going on to serve things out comfortably, never allowing Dodig and Krajicek to even reach deuce against their serve.

In doing so, Kyrgios became the first player to ever sweep both the singles and doubles in Washington.

He only had one doubles title before this season – back at the Lyon Open in 2018, also partnered with Sock – but Kyrgios has now won three in the past eight months, emerging triumphant with fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at both the Australian Open and last month's Atlanta Open.

World number one Daniil Medvedev strolled to victory for his first title of the year at the Los Cabos Open with a 7-5 6-0 demolition of reigning champion Cameron Norrie on Saturday.

The Russian, returning to hard-court tennis in Mexico this week ahead of his US Open title defence, pulled away after an injury timeout late in the first set to comfortably triumph against the 12th-ranked Briton.

Medvedev won every game after the timeout, taken for treatment on a hand issue, after scores were locked at 5-5, with both players having broken serve in the first set.

The third-seeded defending champion had no answers in a lopsided second set which only lasted 26 minutes.

This year's Australian Open runner-up, playing in his fourth final of the season, sent down 5-0 aces and converted six of 10 break points for the match to secure his 14th career title. He was exceptional on serve, with a 67 per cent first-serve win percentage.

The triumph capped an excellent week for Medvedev, who did not drop a set across five wins.

"Every match was very good, but the final match is always special," Medvedev said on court after the match. "It's always a high-level match and I'm really happy I managed to show some good levels and play some good shots."

Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios will take on unseeded Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the Washington Open final on Sunday after maintaining his unblemished record at this year's event with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer on Saturday.

Kyrgios, who won in Washington DC in 2019, had played twice on Friday following rain delays on Thursday but found his passage through with 10 aces including one on match point to secure victory in one hour and 34 minutes.

"I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today," Kyrgios said. "I served pretty solid, but from the back of the court I didn’t play well at all. I'm just happy to be in the final once again."

Kyrgios is yet to drop serve throughout this year's tournament and has knocked off seeds Francis Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul along the way.

The Australian will take on Nishioka who stunned top seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes to secure a spot in his third career final, beating a top 10 opponent for the third time in his career.

Rublev blasted 21-8 winners but also hit 31-14 unforced errors, with the Japanese's consistency proving enough for victory.

Nick Kyrgios started his Friday by finishing off his third-round win against Reilly Opelka, and his business was not finished until after 1am local time when he defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (14-12) 6-2 in the quarter-final.

Due to length rain delays on Thursday, Kyrgios was one of five players forced to abandon their matches and return to finish them first thing on Friday, with Kyrgios and Russia's Andrey Rublev the only two to successfully navigate both.

Tiafoe defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the morning, but Kyrgios' ability to keep his service games short was a decisive factor, winning the ace count 35-14 and not conceding a single break all match.

Rublev had to deal with Maxime Cressy in the morning, winning 6-4 7-6 (10-8), setting up a quarter-final later at night against J.J. Wolf after the American defeated Holger Rune 7-5 4-6 6-3.

Rublev made his second match look far easier, cruising through 6-2 6-3 to earn a semi-final against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka after he needed over three-and-a-half hours to beat Daniel Evans 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-5.

In an all-unseeded semi-final, Kyrgios will play Sweden's Mikael Ymer, who fought his way past Sebastian Korda 6-2 5-7 6-3 after the American beat Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 6-1 6-2 earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, down in Mexico at the Los Cabos Open, Daniil Medvedev earned his spot in the final by defeating Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (7-0) 6-1.

Medvedev will play England's Cameron Norrie for the title after he prevailed in arguably the match of the tournament against top-10 talent Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Canadian Open as the Spaniard has not fully recovered from an abdominal tear. 

Nadal's bid to complete a rare clean sweep of the grand slams ended when he suffered an injury setback at Wimbledon last month.

The 22-time major champion pulled out ahead of a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, who received a walkover and lost to Novak Djokovic in the championship match.

Nadal was due to return in Montreal next week, but on Friday revealed he will not travel to Canada to play in a tournament he has won five times.

The world number three wrote on Twitter: "From the vacation days and my subsequent return to training, everything has gone well these weeks. Four days ago I also started training the service and yesterday after training, I had a little discomfort that was still there today.

"We have decided not to travel to Montreal and continue with the training sessions without forcing ourselves. I sincerely thank the tournament director, Eugene [Lapierre], and his entire team for the understanding and support they have always shown me and today was no exception.

"I hope to play again in Montreal, a tournament that I love and that I have won five times in front of an audience that has always welcomed me with great affection.

"I have no choice but to be prudent at this point and think about health."

Nadal's withdrawal comes just over three weeks before the US Open gets under way at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic has also withdrawn from the Montreal event, having been ineligible to enter Canada due to being unvaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.