As Rogers Cup action ramps up in Montreal and Toronto, here are 11 cool things you might not know about the tournament.
Past Rogers Cup champions: Road to winning the title again
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Winning a WTA title is never an easy task, especially at a tournament like Rogers Cup presented by National Bank where the draw contains so many top-ranked players. But there are five athletes competing this year who know how it’s done – they’ve all won Rogers Cup in the past. Here’s a look at what they need to do to win another title in Canada:
Serena Williams
Williams is the heavy favourite to take home the title for a fourth time. The current world No. 1 and top seed is the defending champion here in Toronto – where she has picked up all three of her Rogers Cup titles. She’s coming into the Emirates Airline US Open Series unstoppable with a 40-1 record on the year – losing only at Madrid to Petra Kvitova. William’s opening match will be the winner of Italian Flavia Pennetta versus homegrown talent Gabriela Dabrowski, a wild card entrant who is making her first main draw appearance. Williams could potentially meet No. 16 seed Andrea Petkovic in the third round with No. 7 seed Lucie Safarova, who pushed Williams to three sets in the final at Roland Garros, waiting for her in the quarters. If the seeds hold up, Williams will meet best friend and 2010 Rogers Cup champion Caroline Wozniacki in the semis and No. 2 seed Simona Halep in the final. Williams hasn’t lost in Toronto since 2009 and took the title in 2013 without dropping a set.Agnieszka Radwanska
Defending champion Radwanska is on a hot streak after a slow start to her year. Thanks to a semifinal finish at Wimbledon in June, Radwanska rejoined the Top 10 where she has been a mainstay for most of the past seven years. She also made the final at Eastbourne. As the No. 7 seed in Toronto, Radwanska has a first-round bye and will face either Zarina Diyas or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – both ranked outside the Top 30 – in her opening match. In the third round, she could see No. 9 seed Carla Suarez Navarro with a potential quarter-final meeting with either No. 2 seed Simona Halep or No. 13 Angelique Kerber. Get past there, and Radwanska could have former world No. 2 Petra Kvitova waiting for her in the semis and Williams in the final. Radwanska won’t have the easiest ride to the championship match but with athleticism on her side and a technical game that has earned her the nickname “The Ninja”, Radwanska shouldn’t be counted out.Petra Kvitova
Though the two-time Wimbledon champion has enjoyed the most success in her career on grass courts, the No. 4 seed has a winning history on hard courts. She claimed the 2012 Rogers Cup title in Montreal and is a two-time champion at New Haven, winning two out of the last three years. Kvitova will have one of the toughest opening matches, going head-to-head with either WTA rising star Elina Svitolina or former world No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka. If she emerges victorious there, it could be No. 8 seed and Wimbledon finalist Garbiñe Muguruza or No. 12 Timea Bacsinszky, who ousted Kvitova from the French Open, waiting for her in the quarter-finals. She is in same half of the draw as Radwanska or Halep, and could play them in the semis. Triumph and she could find herself in the final with Williams, whom she defeated at Madrid, handing the world No. 1 her only loss of 2015.Caroline Wozniacki
Wozniacki is one of the best hard-court players on tour and is a two-time US Open finalist. When Wozniacki won the Rogers Cup title in 2010, she was in the midst of one of her best seasons, claiming a WTA-leading six titles, 62 match wins and ultimately ending the year as world No. 1. She comes to Toronto as the fourth seed and could face either Belinda Bencic or Canada’s own Eugenie Bouchard in her opening match. Bouchard ousted Wozniacki from the semis at Wuhan last fall, while Bencic has defeated the Dane in their last two meetings. If Wozniacki survives, she could face No. 14 seed Venus Williams, last year’s finalist, in the third round, No. 5 seed and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the quarters and pal Serena Williams in the semis. If she can upset Williams and the seedings hold, she’ll be going head-to-head with world No. 3 Simona Halep. Their head-to-head record is 2-2 with Wozniacki winning in their last meeting at Stuttgart.Ana Ivanovic
Former world No. 1 and the fifth seed here this year, Ivanovic took the title in 2006 when she was an up-and-comer, prior to winning the 2008 French Open and hitting the No. 1 spot on the WTA rankings. Back then, Ivanovic faced a tough draw in Montreal, but knocked out three seeded players on her way to capturing the title. She should have a routine win in her opening match against either Irina-Camelia Begu or a qualifier and then could face No. 11 seed Ekaterina Makarova in the third round. Ivanovic will have an uphill battle starting in the quarters where she could potentially meet No. 4 seed Wozniacki then world No. 1 Williams in the semifinals. Upset both seeds and she’d possibly be going head-to-head with either Halep or Kvitova. Ivanovic and Halep haven’t met since Singapore last year and Halep leads their head-to-head 3-1. Meanwhile, the Serb and Kvitova last faced off at Miami in 2014 and Ivanovic leads their match-ups with a 4-3 record.
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