William sisters, Seles and Bouchard to headline Rogers Cup Opening night Past, present and future stars to participate in doubles exhibition match to kick-off tournament June 11, 2013, Toronto, ON – Tennis Canada announced Tuesday that Serena and Venus Williams, Monica Seles and Eugenie Bouchard will participate in a doubles exhibition match on Opening Night of the 2013 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto. The exhibition is scheduled as the second night match following a WTA first-round contest on Centre Court at Rexall Centre on Monday, August 5. “We are thrilled to reintroduce the concept of an Opening Night exhibition match,” said Rogers Cup Toronto tournament director Karl Hale. “Everything we’ve done for this year is to put the focus back on tennis and the fans, and a big tournament kick-off is something we know that our customers have missed the past couple of years. Having the combination of a legend like Seles, current superstars Serena and Venus and up-and-coming Canadian Bouchard is the perfect complement to the Rogers Legends Cup line-up we will have over final weekend.” Returning to Toronto for the first time since winning the 2011 Rogers Cup title, recent French Open champion Serena Williams is also tentatively scheduled to play her opening match of the tournament during the Wednesday evening session. “I’m very excited to be coming back to Toronto both to help get the tournament started with this great exhibition but also to compete for another Rogers Cup trophy,” said Serena Williams. “I’ve always loved playing in Toronto as it is a great event and a beautiful city. I’m looking forward to playing with Venus, Monica and Eugenie in what will be a really fun match, as well as hopefully another successful week at Rogers Cup.” Seles will be back in Toronto for the first time since being inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame in 2009. A fan favourite at this tournament for years, Seles made her comeback from a two-year absence from tennis at the 1995 Rogers Cup and went on to win the championship that year and the next three years for a total of four Canadian trophies. “Rogers Cup holds a very special place in my heart as a tournament that I always loved to play and was very successful at,” said Seles. “I always look forward to coming back to Toronto, and in this case I’m thrilled to take to the court with legends like Serena and Venus as well as the very promising Eugenie Bouchard. It will be a really great night of tennis and I’m excited to be a part of it.” Venus Williams will be teamed with her sister as the duo will share the same court together in Canada for the first time ever. Bouchard, who has cracked the WTA Top 70 this season after capturing the Wimbledon junior singles title in 2012, will be paired with Seles for the match. This announcement comes in addition to the return of Rogers Legends Cup which will feature Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe and Jim Courier in matches to be played alongside the women of the WTA on final weekend.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:25:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015