Top players in Canada for Rogers Cup

This week all the top names in tennis have been invited to Canada to compete in the Rogers Cup, in two separate cities.

Toronto:

This is where the men will contest the ATP 1000 Masters Tournament.

28 of the top 30 world ranked players are in the main draw.  Richard Gasquet is absent due to injury but Roger Federer is blaming his non appearance on scheduling.  Pretty disappointing from the world number two, when thousands of Canadian fans were expecting to see him as they purchased tickets.

With Federer missing, the top eight seeds include world number one Rafa Nadal, numbers 3-8, and world number nine John Isner.

From the field of 56, these eight receive first round byes.

First round matches on Day One of great interest include:

Milos Raonic v David Goffin (10)

Jack Sock (13) v qualifier Daniil Medvedev 

Diego Schwartzman (11) v Kyle Edmund 

Montreal:

Here, women will fight for the WTA Premier 5 Tournament.

26 of the top 30 world ranked players are in the main draw.  Missing are three Americans - Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe and Serena Williams - and Dominika Cibulková.

From the field of 56, the top eight seeds receive first round byes

First round matches on Day One of great interest include:

Barbora Strycova v Magdalena Rybarikova 

Aleksandra Krunic v Anastasija Sevastova

Naomi Osaka (16) v qualifier Carla Suárez Navarro 

Why Carla had to win through qualifying is beyond me, since she has been ranked inside the top 30 since February this year.  Maybe she registered for the tournament too late ?  Even so she should have been treated better - other players with higher profiles have received benefits certainly not allowed Carla.

I hope she has success in Montreal now she has reached the main draw.

Good to see Vika Azarenka in the draw with the wildcard originally granted - if she plays, it means the injury suffered in San Jose last week wasn’t as serious as first feared.