LADYDRAGON.COM - Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic will be in montreal for the 2010 Rogers Cup from August 13-22

Wednesday February 03, 2010

Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic will be in montreal for the 2010 Rogers Cup from August 13-22

Former Rogers Cup champions and world No. 1's confirm their participation in this summer’s tournament

After each of the Top 10 players confirmed their entry into the 2010 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in December, Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic have added their names to the impressive list of players who will be at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal from August 13-22.

“We are thrilled about the addition of these two great players, former Rogers Cup champions and former World No. 1’s to our tournament and their participation further confirms the popularity as well as the prestige of our event in the eyes of the players,” said Rogers Cup Tournament Director Eugène Lapierre. “Combined with the announcement last December of the Top 10 players all confirming their presence in Montreal, we believe our loyal fans are in for quite a show in August. We already feel the excitement in our ticket sales.”

Clijsters, crowned Rogers Cup champion in 2005, is currently ranked No. 15 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings following a remarkable return to the sport last summer after the Belgian former World No. 1 stepped away from the game for 18 months to start a family. The hiatus proved beneficial for Clijsters who, in just her third tournament back, won her second Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open last September. She became the third mother in women’s tennis history to win a Grand Slam title (R.L. Chambers – Wimbledon 1914; Goolagong Cawley – Wimbledon 1980).

For her part, Ivanovic, ranked No. 21 in the world, will return to Montreal hoping to rediscover the form that allowed her to claim Rogers Cup glory in 2006 at Uniprix Stadium, a victory that propelled her to super stardom. The talented Serbian, a crowd favourite in Montreal, won her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros in 2008 and subsequently became the No. 1 player in the world. Clijsters and Ivanovic are being added to an already stellar field for 2010 which boasts the Top 10 players in the world including both Williams’ sisters, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Caroline Woznacki. Six Canadians will also be part of the festivities including Quebecers Aleksandra Wozniak, Stéphanie Dubois and Valérie Tétreault.

Following a tournament schedule restructuring in 2009 under the new roadmap, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour now counts five “Premier” events on its calendar including the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank. In 2009, the top 25 players in the world played the Rogers Cup in Toronto.