Belgian Kim Clijsters, the defending champion and the top-seed, leads a strong field of players participating in this year’s edition of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada. This is despite the withdrawals of Justine Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 champion, and Amelie Mauresmo, the 2004 champion. Rogers Cup, a Tier 1 tournament and a US Open Series Tournament as well, offers $1.325 million in prize money.
Five of the top ten seeds are Russians. Maria Sharapova leads the pack as the second seed. Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova are seeded third and fourth respectively. Anastasia Myskina is seeded sixth, while Dinara Safina is seeded ninth. Czech Nicole Vaidisova, meanwhile, is seeded fifth followed by Martina Hingis, a winner here in 1999 and 2000 at seventh. Italian Francesca Schiavone is seeded eighth, while German Anna-Lena Groenefeld is seeded tenth.
Hingis will have a first round bye. In the second round, she’ll face either Italian Mara Santangelo or Austrian Sybille
Bammer. While Daniel Hantuchova looms as Hingis’ most likely opponent in the third round, Russians Kuznetsova and Sharapova might be Hingis’ opponent in the quarterfinals and in the semi-finals respectively. Should Hingis get past the Russians, a possible showdown with Clijsters for the title and a chance for Hingis to avenge her three previous losses at the hands of Clijsters awaits.
Connect With Tennis Grandstand