Can it really be five months since Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka were crowned champions in Tennis Paradise?

How the season has flown!

The four-tournament North American ATP and WTA 1000s swing that began in the desert in March reaches its conclusion over the next 19 days. Montreal hosts the men and Toronto the women this week and next before Cincinnati takes center stage from August 13.

Much has changed since March, but some storylines have endured.

Sabalenka, who saved a championship point against Elena Rybakina to claim her first title in the desert, again finds herself fending off her rival this week in Toronto, where the No. 1 WTA Ranking will be in play if Sabalenka doesn't reach the fourth round.

After falling to Sabalenka in both Indian Wells and Miami in March, Rybakina has been waiting more than four months for a shot at revenge, which she may get if both players reach the Toronto final.

Unlike fellow Indian Wells champion and 2026 ‘Sunshine Double’ winner Sinner, Sabalenka has suffered a title drought since saying farewell to the United States in late March. But there is no better place than a North American hard court for her to regain her best form. She is 23-1 on all hard courts this year and is the top seed and favorite to win a third consecutive WTA 1000 title on the surface.

Sinner used Indian Wells as a springboard for a historic run of success. After collecting his first BNP Paribas Open title with a 7-6, 7-6 win over Daniil Medvedev in the title match, the 24-year-old won Miami and then first-time titles in Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome to become just the second player (Novak Djokovic, twice) to complete the set of all nine ATP Masters 1000 crowns.

Oh, and for good measure, he also successfully defended his Wimbledon title, marking the third time in the past four years (Carlos Alcaraz in 2023 and ’24) that the Tennis Paradise champion also triumphed at the All England Club in the same year. The World No. 1 is not playing Montreal but will look to tie Djokovic’s record of six Masters 1000s in the same season when he returns to Cincinnati, where last year he reached the final.

When Alex Eala made her debut in Tennis Paradise this year, she won over a legion of new fans with her sparkling left-handed game and humble disposition. Her presence attracted passionate members of the large Filipino community in Southern California, many of whom made their first visit to Indian Wells.

She also won over American fans for the grace she displayed after Coco Gauff retired injured during their third-round meeting, delivering heartfelt post-match comments to console her opponent.

In the following round, Eala suffered a heavy 6-2, 6-0 loss to Czech Linda Noskova, raising questions about whether the then-20-year-old was still a season or two away from consistently challenging the game’s best.

But she returns to WTA 1000 action this week as a genuine contender following her stunning march to her first title at the WTA 500 in Washington last week. The new World No. 20 defeated second seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, third seed Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals and top seed Jessica Pegula in a three-set final played over two days due to rain.

Life is also good right now for Noskova, who gave American fans a glimpse of her potential by reaching the Indian Wells semi-finals in March. She emerged as a surprise Wimbledon champion in July and returns to competition this week in Toronto for the first time since claiming her first major.

“My career is not ending here, it is hopefully only starting,” Noskova said in Toronto about her Wimbledon triumph. “Winning a Grand Slam is an unreal thing... I feel like it’s even a bigger motivation for me to keep going.”

Noskova and Eala are seeded to meet in the third round in Toronto.

Mirra Andreeva, the 2025 BNP Paribas Open champion and ‘26 Roland Garros winner, comes into Canada and Cincinnati in first place in the race to qualify for the WTA Finals, which this November will be held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev, who has reached the semi-finals in five of his past six hard-court Masters 1000s — including this year’s best showing in Indian Wells — is the top seed in Montreal.

Five-time BNP Paribas Open champion Novak Djokovic, who owns 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles, will play his first tournament since Wimbledon when he lines up in Cincinnati. In 2023, the Serbian won an epic three-hour, 49-minute final against Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz has been sidelined for almost four months with a wrist injury and had been scheduled to return in Cincinnati, but on Tuesday announced his withdrawal.

So will the early-season storylines first authored in Indian Wells continue over the next two-and-a-half weeks with Sabalenka winning Toronto and Cincinnati and Sinner claiming a sixth ATP Masters 1000 of the year in Cincinnati? Or will a new narrative emerge to cap the North American ATP/WTA 1000s series heading into the US Open?

Watch this space.