WTA Toronto Preview: Short on Star Power

Posted on August 13, 2007

Owners of "Tier I" designated tournaments on the WTA Tour frequently have plenty to grumble about regarding top player no-shows. Unlike the ATP's "Masters Series" which nine times a year brings the elite Top 50-60 players together, the WTA's Tier I events, like this week in Toronto, in the end become hit-and-miss prospects just like any other event.

As George Gross of the Toronto Sun put it, "Maria Sharapova is not coming. Neither are sisters Venus and Serena Williams, nor Amelie Mauresmo, Nicole Valdisova or Martina Hingis. What is going on? Are Tennis Canada officials using the wrong deodorant for this week's Rogers Cup tennis tournament? I don't think so. And this is not the first time there has been a mass withdrawal of top-seeded players from the Canadian women's open tennis event. Numerous explanations have been offered this time and in the past -- some with conspiracy-theory overtones...A little bird tells me that if Tennis Canada had offered Sharapova a substantial appearance fee, the grunting and money-loving queen of the over-the-webbing set, would suddenly reach for the magical medical sponge..."

Ouch, but that's the current reality of women's tennis. It remains to be seen whether the WTA's new calendar and rules revisions can get their top players on the court consistently.

Meanwhile Toronto this week attracts top seeds Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, last week's LA winner Ana Ivanovic, Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova, Marion Bartoli, Elena Dementieva, and eight other seeds of various fall-off.

Where the men's Masters Series events feature blockbuster match-ups from the first round on, in Toronto you'll have to wait until the third round or quarterfinals before the excitement starts.

Potential quarterfinal meetings are Henin vs. Petrova, Ivanovic vs. Bartoli, Dementieva vs. Kuznetsova, and Chakvetadze vs. Jankovic.

In last year's final Ivanovic beat Hingis for her first Tier I title which, considering the fields over the last couple years, shouldn't mean much.