World number six & two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the upcoming Rogers Cup 2019 due to a persistent forearm injury.
The 29-year-old Czech won the 2012 edition of the tournament and had been struggling with this injury that flared up during her French Open 2019 campaign. Kvitova had been out of action since her fourth round loss to the world number 14 Johanna Konta from Britain at Wimbledon last month.
A Tennis Canada Press Release had Kvitova announce:
“My forearm injury is continuing to cause some problems so, on the advice of my medical team, I have made the decision not to travel to Canada. I will really miss being in Toronto this year and wish Karl and the tournament every success.”
The withdrawal of Kvitova has had a cascading effect on the rest of the draw, as Serena Williams got into the top eight seeds resulting in her getting a bye in the first round of matches whereas Venus Williams, who was initially handed a wild-card entry into this year’s competition, now gets a direct entry in the main draw. Her wild card goes to two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
Before Kvitova’s withdrawal, 14 of the top 16 WTA players were in the frame for the competition starting Monday, August 5, making this year’s field an extremely competitive one.
Defending champion & the winner of Wimbledon last month, Simona Halep will take to the courts as the favorite this year, her flawless campaign at the Wimbledon last month coupled with her impressive 17-2 record at the tournament in the previous four years makes it difficult to look past her for this year’s edition.
The current world number one & the top seed at the Rogers Cup 2019, Ashleigh Barty will be keen to do better then her run till quarterfinals last year and will be looking to replicate some of the form in the first half of the season that got her to world number 1 ranking on the back of titles at the Roland Garros & the Miami Open.
37-year-old & 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is a dark horse to watch out for at this year’s edition. She is a three-time winner of the Rogers Cup & has an impressive 30-4 record at the event. She seems to have found her grove in the second half of the season with strong showings during the grass-court season & only dropping two sets en route to the Wimbledon final last month eventually losing to Halep.
This main draw play of this prestigious WTA Premier 5 tournament starts on Monday, 5th August and will be held at the Aviva Centre in Toronto.
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