Rogers Cup: Top-ranked Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic headline strong field
Top 38 women, best 40 male players confirmed
World No. 1s Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic headline a list of the top tennis players that committed to playing at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday.
The top 38 ranked female players on the WTA will compete in Toronto Aug. 8-16, while the best 40 male players from the ATP Tour will be in Montreal Aug. 7-16.
We want our fans to have a first-class experience here from the minute they set foot on the grounds of Aviva Centre and this list of players will certainly help deliver that on the court.- Karl Hale, Rogers Cup Toronto tourney director
"Our tournament is one of the most important stops of the year, especially as part of the summer hard court swing, and this stellar player field illustrates that," said Karl Hale, Rogers Cup Toronto tournament director. "We pride ourselves on constantly striving to be the best and that starts with attracting the top tennis players in the world.
"We want our fans to have a first-class experience here from the minute they set foot on the grounds of Aviva Centre and this list of players will certainly help deliver that on the court."
Other past champions expected at the tournament include nine-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal, 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, two-time Rogers Cup titlist Andy Murray, defending champions Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Agniezska Radwanska, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former No. 1 players Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki.
Joining them will be fan favourites Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams, Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka.
Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., will play, as will Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil who was included on the Montreal player list as he was awarded an early wildcard by the tournament on Wednesday.
"We are once again thrilled to be welcoming the ATP World Tour back to the city of Montreal," said Eugene Lapierre, Rogers Cup Montreal tournament director. "We experienced world record attendance when the men were in town in 2011 as well as historic results from our Canadian players in 2013.
"We are hoping for the 2015 edition of the event to be even better and this player field will help us achieve that. We are very much looking forward to creating more memorable moments for our fans."
The 56-player draw in each city will be completed with the addition of qualifiers, tournament wildcards and Tour special exemptions. The remainder of these entrants will be announced at a later date.