“I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring,” Azarenka said. “I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy.”

“I don’t see how I got a blister after sitting on my [expletive deleted] for two days,” Azarenka said.

“We play tournaments every week and it’s our job,” Zvonareva said. “We are used to it, so that doesn’t matter. But it’s difficult for the fans. We see a lot of people walking around with umbrellas. We really appreciate them coming and trying to watch us play. They have been great all week, so supportive of all the players. We can only imagine how disappointing it has been for them.”

The development was that Montreal’s star power suddenly began to dip with all the pull-outs, and Lapierre came back to Ivanovic with the wildcard offer — which she promptly told him, in so many words, to stick up his ass.

The sadly-slowing American drumbeat goes on this week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open. World No. 1 Serena Williams is sidelined with a cut foot, and elder sister Venus is out with a tweaked knee. No Americans are seeded, and only one American, Melanie Oudin, got directly into the main draw via her ranking (barely).

No. 2 seed Sam Querrey won his fourth title of the year in LA Sunday, beating Andy Murray for the first time in five meetings 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 for the Farmers Classic title. Querrey successfully defended his title from 2010, improving to 4-1 in finals this year.

Loaded non-seeded field with former No. 1s Ivanovic and Safina, and former No. 2 Kuznetsova unseeded; first-round match-ups of interest are (6) Bartoli vs. Hantuchova, (7) Peer vs. (WC) Ivanovic, (8) Wickmayer vs. Kuznetsova, and potential second-round match-ups after seeded byes (1) Jankovic vs. Rezai and Stosur vs. Azarenka or Oudin

Andy Murray is on track for his first Los Angeles title.

“For the past two weeks, we’ve discussed a lot about my game,” Llodra said of Mauresmo. “She’s been a great help and she’s helped me to prepare for my matches so that I feel more comfortable when I go out on the court. I have to thank Amelie, it’s a pleasure to work with her.”

After three months away Serena Williams has returned to the WTA circuit.