Azarenka awarded Rogers Cup wild card
Victoria Azarenka has been awarded a wild-card entry for the Rogers Cup Canadian Open women’s tennis championships, Aug. 3-12 at IGA Stadium.
The WTA wild card is available for players who have been ranked No. 1 in the world. Azarenka reached the top spot in 2012. The 28-year-old Belarusian is currently No. 87. She took time off to give birth to her son, Leo, in December 2016 and her return to the tour was delayed further by a custody battle with her former boyfriend.
The announcement is an indication that another recent mother, Serena Williams, may not be coming to Montreal although the tournament does have four regular wild cards to give out. These are usually reserved for Canadian players because there are currently no Canadian women ranked in the top 100.
“I am very much looking forward to returning to Montreal this summer,” Azarenka said in a statement on Tuesday. “It has been a few years since I was in this beautiful city, and I can’t wait to be back and see the amazing fans in Quebec. I have some fond memories of playing in Montreal in the past so I hope to add to that this summer.”
Azarenka, who has won two Australian Open titles, has reached the Rogers Cup semifinals three times, twice in Montreal.
“We are very pleased to be able to announce the participation of Victoria Azarenka in our tournament by awarding her a wild card,” said tournament director Eugène Lapierre. “She has been a major figure on the WTA Tour in the last 10 years and tennis fans are very happy to see her back in action playing in various tournaments after her absence. Victoria is showing us that it is possible to be a mother and a professional tennis player at the same time, which is already quite an accomplishment.”
The full entry list for the Rogers Cup will be unveiled on Thursday.
In other tennis news, four of the six Canadians involved in qualifying action at Wimbledon Tuesday advanced.
Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur won second-round matches and are one win away from spots in the main draw. Polansky beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina 7-5, 6-2, while Schnur beat Argentina’s Andrea Collarini 6-1, 6-2.
On the women’s side, Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., won first-round matches. Bouchard beat Zhu Lin of China 6-0, 6-2 and Andreescu beat American Grace Min 6-2, 6-0. Deborah Chiesa of Italy defeated Carol Zhao 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 and Antonia Lottner of Germany defeated Françoise Abanda of Montreal 7-5, 6-4.
Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime skipped Wimbledon qualifying to play on clay in Milan and lost to Holland’s Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-1.