After Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz's Canadian Open withdrawals, $9.5B-worth Bill Ackman takes sly dig at controversy over his Challenger wildcard

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner recently pulled out from the Canadian Open, citing their personal reasons. Following these withdrawals, $9.5B-worth (as per Forbes) Bill Ackman took a dig at the controversy over his wildcard entry at the 2025 Hall of Fame Open.

Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Sinner, who were the final four of Wimbledon 2025, announced their withdrawal from the Canadian Open, which is slated to begin on July 26. These top-three players have pulled out from the event to seemingly recover for their appearance at the US Open.

These withdrawals caught the attention of Ackman, who was recently making headlines after he was accused of bribing the HOF for his wild card entry at the pro doubles match at the 2025 Hall of Fame Open in Newport. In this event, he paired with the former American tennis player, Jack Sock, and was bested by the Australian pair, Omar Jasika and Bernard Tomic, in the first round of the event with a score of 6-1, 7-5.

Amid the Canadian Open withdrawals, the billionaire took a dig at the controversy of him being accused of receiving the wild card entry due to his wealth and not his skills, as he offered a $10M gift to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which invited him to the event. Sharing the news of Djokovic and Sinner withdrawing from the upcoming tournament, he wrote

"I too have decided it is advisable to skip the Toronto Open this year," wrote Ackman.

Novak Djokovic was visibly seen struggling with an injury in his leg in the semi-final round of Wimbledon against Sinner. Citing this injury, the Serb has taken time to recover for his appearances in the tournaments after the Canadian Open.

---

Novak Djokovic opened up about his Wimbledon loss against Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner overwhelmed Novak Djokovic in the pursuit of his 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon by winning the straight three-set match of 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Following this loss, the Serb sat for a press conference, where he spoke about his upset and opened up about how his age and body might be affecting his game.

Stating that he can really play 'good tennis,' he said: (as quoted by ATP Tour)

“It's just age, the wear and tear of the body. As much as I'm taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, last year and a half, like never before, to be honest. It's tough for me to accept that because I feel like when I'm fresh, when I'm fit, I can still play really good tennis. I've proven that this year," said Novak Djokovic.

Making his feelings known about whether his career in Wimbledon has ended, he added:

“I would be sad, but hopefully it's not my last match on the Centre Court. I'm not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. So I'm planning to come back definitely at least one more time, play on the Centre Court for sure. I don't know what I can do differently, because the amount of hours that I spend on a daily basis to take care of myself. 'I'd like to challenge everyone who is out there on the tour to see if anybody takes care of themselves more than me," he added.

Novak Djokovic opened his 2025 season by competing at the Brisbane International, where he fell short of advancing further than the quarterfinal round after being defeated by Reilly Opelka.

Edited by Tushhita Barua