Abanda riding high into Toronto
Canadian women gearing up to take on top players in the world at Rogers Cup
TORONTO Francoise Abanda can’t wait to get on the court.
It’s little surprise, considering the season the 20-year-old Montreal native has been enjoying on the 2017 WTA Tour.
When the Rogers Cup opens at the Aviva Centre, Abanda will try to build off her play at Wimbledon and the French Open, where she won her first-round matches.
“It’s always great to play at home, I’ve had a great year so far and hopefully, I can keep going with my momentum,” Abanda said Friday at the Royal Ontario Museum, where the draw was held for next week’s event on the campus of York University.
“I’ve had a lot of success at the Fed Cup, but this is the Rogers Cup and there are a lot of top players. It’s going to be a good challenge for me.”
Abanda is ranked second among Canadian women, behind only Eugenie Bouchard, and is ranked No. 131 in the world.
Abanda will be participating in the Rogers Cup for the fourth time and will face No. 41 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in the opening round.
Bouchard will face a qualifier in her opening-round match, while 17-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who reached her first WTA quarter-final this week at the Citi Open in Washington, will face Timea Babos of Hungary. On Thursday, Andreescu upset world No. 13 seed Kristina Mladenovic at the Citi Open.
Andreescu was competing in the quarter-final Friday night against Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
Babos, meanwhile, has lost her past nine matches.
“Anybody in the main draw is tough,” Rogers Cup tournament director Karl Hale said. “Bianca, when she plays Babos, it’s going to be a tough match for her, but she is playing well, so it’s a winnable match.
“I think Eugenie has a great draw to play a qualifier and then if she wins to play (Angelique) Kerber, who she has beaten before. And Francoise is playing Safarova, who is on the tail end of her singles career.
“(Abanda) has a good draw as well. She is playing with the toplevel players and she can win against any of these players in the draw. I think the draw is great, considering it’s such a tough tournament for the Canadians.”
Bouchard, ranked No. 73 in the world, lost her second-round match in singles play at the Citi Open, but was headed to the doubles final.
The top seed at the Rogers Cup is Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, ranked No. 1 in the world. Each of the top eight players have a bye in the first round.
Abanda was joined at the tournament draw by fellow 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who won the French Open earlier this summer.
“A lot of good players born in 1997 are now on the tour and it’s good to see,” Ostapenko said. “We played in junior together and now we’re here. It’s nice to see a new generation come up.”
This is the Rogers Cup and there are a lot of top players. It’s going to be a good challenge for me.