Williams Sisters Highlight Loaded Rogers Cup Toronto Field

by Staff | August 4th, 2013, 12:01 am
  • 7 Comments

Just about every top player excluding the injured Maria Sharapova, and including both Williams sisters, have turned out for the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the first major stop on the road to the US Open.
ADHEREL
ROGERS CUP PRESENTED BY NATIONAL BANK
Toronto, Canada; Surface: hard

Seeds: Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, Marion Bartoli, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Roberta Vinci, Maria Kirilenko, Samantha Stosur, Kirsten Flipkens, Sloane Stephens, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic

Floaters: Francesca Schiavone, Venus Williams, Varvara Lepchenko, Lucie Safarova, Dominika Cibulkova, Eugenie Bouchard, Alisa Kleybanova


Top Quarter: Serena after a bye could open against the Slam winner Schiavone, and face sister Venus in the third round. Tough start for No. 12 seed Kirsten Flipkens against Venus and for No. 9 Wozniacki against Lepchenko. Likely Serena vs. Bartoli quarterfinal.

2nd Quarter: No. 3 seed Radwanska after a bye a tricky start against either Yanina Wickmayer or Laura Robson. No. 8 Errani after a bye to likely start against the big-hitting Safarova. Radwanska vs. toss-up in the quarters, Errani not likely to make it.

3rd Quarter: The No. 4 Na, who hasn’t been seen much lately, will after a bye likely start against big hitter Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 8 Kerber after a bye will likely begin against the hot-handed Cibulkova. Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and veteran Flavia Pennetta are also lurking in this quarter, which should see Na and Kerber play it out to a quarterfinal meeting.

Bottom Quarter: No. 2 Azarenka begins with a bye, but in the third round lurks former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. No. 6 Kvitova who has been suffering some shaky play of late will after a bye start against either Bouchard or Kleybanova. Look for upsets out of this quarter, which also contains Stosur and American riser Jamie Hampton.

Notes: Wildcards went to Azarenka, Bartoli and Canadians Bouchard, Stephanie Dubois and Sharon Fichman…Joining Sharapova in pulling from the event were Simona Halep, Bojana Jovanovski, Kaia Kanepi, Sabine Lisicki, Romina Oprandi, Peng Shuai (visa issue), and Nadia Petrova…Former Slam champ Svetlana Kuznetsova had to play the qualifying, along with Americans Madison Keys and Bethanie Mattek-Sands…Kvitova beat Na in last year’s final…Returning champs in the field are Kvitova (2012), Serena Williams (2011,’01), Wozniacki (2010), and Ivanovic (2006).

 


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7 Comments for Williams Sisters Highlight Loaded Rogers Cup Toronto Field

Colin Says:

I wish Kvitova could find some consistency from somewhere, not just in tournaments but within individual matches. She’s so spectacular to watch when she’s on song.

If Bartoli does meet Serena in the quarters, methinks the American will be EXTREMELY motivated!


AD Tennis Says:

“She’s so spectacular to watch when she’s on song.”

Well said. Kvitova is such a natural striker of the ball. Her movement is ungainly, much like Sharapova, but her shot-making has a fluidity and natural flow to it that makes it wonderful to watch her.

Bartoli and Serena quarterfinal has the potential to be a classic, if Bartoli can play her best tennis. Hard to see anyone stopping Serena, but she has tailored her game to the clay-courts to achieve Roland Garros, but the price she is paying is that she is not the same force on the faster courts. Even with the slowing down of the conditions and RG/Wimbledon double not being the same challenge as it was in the 80s or 90s, one can still see how hard it is to dominate ALL the varied surfaces in tennis.

This means Laver’s Calendar Slam or Graf’s Golden Calendar Slam will remain one of the biggest records in tennis.


Josh39485 Says:

@AD Tennis: but when Laver won his Calendar Slam, I think 3 of the 4 Grand Slams were on grass anyway. Nevertheless, it’s still a remarkable feat


Anna Says:

Glad to see Venus back in the mix. Actually I haven’t seen Serena struggling much moving from surface to surface. Last year she won Wimbledon and came across the pond to win Bank of the West classic (hard court)and just about everything else on h/c for awhile. This year has been one of her best on clay so I can see where she might have wanted to extend the season a bit, but I don’t think it’ll take her long to get into the groove once she’s back on home soil.


Steve 27 Says:

Eugenie Bouchard is the new Sharapova.


Kimmi Says:

So stosur finally beats azarenka. Must feel good!


RZ Says:

Steve 27 – in what sense: game? endorsements? success? “it girl” status? I haven’t had much chance to watch Bouchard play.

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