2013/05/21

Levine To Play For Canada

Jesse Levine (Photo by Erik Gudris)

Jesse Levine (Photo by Erik Gudris)

(December 19, 2012)  Tennis Canada has announced that 25-year-old Jesse Levine, currently ranked No. 104 on the ATP World Tour has decided to represent his birth country and play for Canada on tour.

“We are pleased that Jesse has decided to play for Canada,” said Tennis Canada President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Downey. “We believe he can strengthen our Davis Cup team and add depth to our roster when he is eligible to play.”

Levine was born in Ottawa and spent the first 13 years of his life in Canada before moving to the United States.

 

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Federer withdraws from Rogers Cup

Tennis Canada announced on Friday that world No. 1 Roger Federer has withdrawn from Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto.

“I am very disappointed that I have to withdraw from Toronto as I love the city and the Canadian fans are amazing. I have always enjoyed playing there but after a long stretch of tournaments, I will need some time to recover,” said Federer. “I look forward to coming back to Canada next year.”

Due to Federer’s withdrawal, Canada’s Milos Raonic now moves into the No. 16 seed position and will receive a first-round bye. The draw to determine first-round match-ups will take place on Saturday.

An updated player list for Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto is below:

1.  DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB
2.  MURRAY, Andy GBR
3.  TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA
4.  BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
5.  TIPSAREVIC, Janko SRB
6.  DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG
7.   MONACO, Juan ARG
8.  ISNER, John USA
9.  SIMON, Gilles FRA
10. CILIC, Marin CRO
11.  FISH, Mardy USA
12.  KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER
13.  NISHIKORI, Kei JPN
14.  GASQUET, Richard FRA
15.  MAYER, Florian GER
16.  RAONIC, Milos CAN
17.  DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr UKR
18.   STEPANEK, Radek CZE
19.  GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP
20.  SEPPI, Andreas ITA
21.  LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP
22.   TROICKI, Viktor SRB
23.   YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS
24.  BENNETEAU, Julien FRA
25. ANDERSON, Kevin RSA
26.   HAAS, Tommy GER
27.  MELZER, Jurgen AUT
28.  ANDUJAR, Pablo ESP
29.  BERLOCQ, Carlos ARG
30.  NALBANDIAN, David ARG
31.  BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP
32.   CHARDY, Jeremy FRA
33.   TOMIC, Bernard AUS
34.   LACKO, Lukas SVK
35.  BOGOMOLOV, JR., Alex RUS
36.  YOUNG, Donald USA
37.  KUKUSHKIN, Mikhail KAZ
38.  LU, Yen-Hsun TPE
39. SPECIAL EXEMPT
40. DANCEVIC, Frank (WILD CARD) CAN
41. POLANKSY, Peter (WILD CARD) CAN
42. POSPISIL, Vasek (WILD CARD) CAN
43. QUALIFIER
44. QUALIFIER
45. QUALIFIER
46. QUALIFIER
47. QUALIFIER
48. QUALIFIER
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Nadal Withdraws from Rogers Cup

Tennis Canada announced Thursday that world No. 3 Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto due to injury.

“Coming to Toronto is always one of the highlights of my season so I’m very disappointed that I can’t play there this year,” said Nadal. “I was planning on coming to Toronto and did everything I could to be ready but I still need some more time to recover.”

This will be the first time since his debut appearance in 2004 that Nadal will miss the Canadian Masters 1000 event. He also withdrew from the Olympic Tennis event in London last week.

“Rafa is one of the fan favourites here and has always been a great supporter of our tournament,” said Rogers Cup tournament director Karl Hale. “We’re obviously disappointed that he won’t be in Toronto this year but we wish him a speedy recovery so he can return to the Tour as soon as possible.”

Additional main draw withdrawals as of Thursday are David Ferrer (Spain), Gael Monfils (France) and Fernando Verdasco (Spain).

Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto will take place from August 4-12 at the Rexall Centre. For tickets and more information visit www.rogerscup.com.

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Dancevic, Polansky, Pospisil given Wild Cards into Toronto

Tennis Canada announced Thursday the men’s wildcards into the singles draw of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto. Canadians Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky, and Vasek Pospisil have received entry into the main draw of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

They join world No. 23 Milos Raonic , whose ranking gave him an automatic entry into the tournament, to make a total of four Canadians in the singles main draw. They could later be joined by other Canadians as well, as four of the country’s competitors will take part in the qualifying tournament.

Dancevic, 27, was enjoying great results in 2012 before a back injury interrupted his momentum earlier this season. He captured the $125K Dallas Challenger in March as a qualifier, defeating world No. 24 Marin Cilic en route, and also reached the final of the $50K Tallahassee event. The 2007 Rogers Cup quarter-finalist will be making his 10th appearance at Canada’s Masters 1000 event.

Polansky, 24, is coming into Rogers Cup at his career-high ranking of No. 155 in the world, which he accomplished in part due to an appearance in his first Challenger final at the $35K Panama City tournament just a couple weeks ago. The last time he played in Toronto in 2010, Polansky advanced into the second round following an opening victory over world No. 15 Jurgen Melzer.

Pospisil, 22, will be returning to Canada to compete in Rogers Cup after making his first Olympic Games appearance this week in London. He hit his career-high world ranking of No. 85 last Monday after winning the $50K Granby Challenger in Quebec. He secured his first ATP World Tour main draw victory at Rogers Cup last year, when he beat world No. 22 Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round.

The wildcards also have been decided for the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank qualifying tournament, which takes place August 4-5 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. Erik Chvojka, Steven Diez, Pierre-Ludovic Duclos and Filip Peliwo were given places into the qualifying draw and will battle for one of six spots in the main draw. Chvojka and Duclos have each previously made one main draw appearance at Rogers Cup, while both Diez and Peliwo have yet to play in the tournament’s main draw.

Rogers Cup presented by National Bank will take place from August 4-12 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. Tickets are available for purchase at rogerscup.com.

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Courier, Hingis, and Main to be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame

Tennis Canada announced Wednesday that Jim Courier, Martina Hingis, and Lorne Main will be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame during the 2012 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in recognition of their contribution to Canada’s premier tennis tournament.

Courier and Hingis will be inducted on Centre Court in Montreal during Legends Night on Monday, August 6 where they will also participate along with Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova in an exhibition match. Main will be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame in Toronto during a special evening ceremony on semifinal Saturday, August 11.

Courier won 23 ATP singles titles, including four Grand Slam crowns during a professional career that spanned 12 years. In addition to being ranked No. 1 for 58 weeks, the American is one of only a handful of players to have reached the final of all four Majors and is the last player to have completed the Australian Open/Roland-Garros double, a feat he accomplished in 1992. His last deep run at a Grand Slam came in 1995 when he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. At the Rogers Cup, Courier twice reached the semifinals, in 1991 and 1994, and he won the 1993 doubles title with Mark Knowles. Today, Courier is a television analyst, the mastermind behind the popular Champions Tour, and captain of the United States Davis Cup team. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

As for Hingis, she was a prolific performer in Canada, not to mention the fact that she was always a fan favourite. The “Swiss Miss” is one of six players to win consecutive titles at the Rogers Cup (1999 and 2000) and one of three players to win the singles and doubles title the same year. At the Australian Open in 1997, at 16 years, 3 months and 28 days, Hingis became the youngest player in history to capture a Grand Slam singles title, the first of five she would win during her illustrious career. In fact, Hingis was virtually invincible in 1997, winning 37 consecutive matches, six straight tournaments and three of the four Majors that year. While her peers were all about one-dimensional power tennis, Hingis utilized an all-court-game and every shot in the book to map out a Hall of Fame career.

Main is aCanadian tennis legend. He captured the doubles title at the Rogers Cup—then known as the Canadian Open—in both 1951 and 1954 and was a singles finalist in 1949. He captured his sole ATP title at the Monte Carlo Open in 1954. Now, at the age of 82, the Vancouver native is the most decorated seniors tennis player in history. Main has been ranked No. 1 in the world in every seniors tennis age group from the over-50 to over-80 categories. He has also won a total of 39 world championships (13 singles, 13 doubles, and 13 team titles). In June, Main was presented with the first-ever Award for Outstanding Achievement in Seniors Tennis at the ITF World Champions Dinner.

Rogers Cup presented by National Bank will be held from August 4-12 at Rexall Centre in Toronto and from August 4-13 at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. For tickets or more information visit www.rogerscup.com.

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Rogers Cup Announces Entry Lists

Tennis Canada announced Wednesday the official player acceptance lists for the 2012 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal and Toronto. This year, 59 of the Top 60 players in the world will be descending upon Canada, including both current world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and defending Rogers Cup champion Novak Djokovic. The Top 35 men of the ATP World Tour will play at Rexall Centre in Toronto from August 4-12, while 24 of the Top 25 women of the WTA will compete August 4-13 at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal.

“We are thrilled to welcome back all the best male players in the world to Toronto,” said Rogers Cup Toronto tournament director Karl Hale. “The depth in the men’s game makes for riveting storylines and unparalleled rivalries and we look forward to watching all the action up-close and personal when the players hit the courts in Toronto.”

“We are very pleased to announce that 24 of the Top 25 players in the world will be in Montreal this year,” said Rogers Cup Montreal tournament director Eugène Lapierre. “Our list shows that Rogers Cup continues to be one of the most important and appreciated tournaments on the tennis calendar, one that the ladies don’t want to miss.”

Other past champions expected at the tournaments include seven-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal, 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, two-time Rogers Cup titlist Andy Murray, and former world No. 1 players Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic. Joining them will be last year’s Rogers Cup finalist and US Open champion Sam Stosur, Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and home-grown Canadian hero Milos Raonic.

“I think that Rogers Cup in both Montreal and Toronto do a tremendous job in organizing the event and it’s one of the best [Masters] 1000 events that we have in the world of tennis,” said Djokovic. “Every player enjoys playing there. I’m really looking forward to coming there and playing my best tennis.”

For the second year, the two internationally-recognized Rogers Cup events will be staged during the same week making them “virtually combined”. As with last year, all necessary elements will be in place to ensure that spectators, journalists and players are able to interact across venues.

New for 2012, both draws will consist of 48 players with the Top 16 seeds receiving first-round byes. Main draw action in Montreal will begin one day later than usual on Tuesday, August 7 with the women’s final taking place in the evening on Monday, August 13. An evening final is also scheduled in Toronto for the first time ever on Sunday, August 12 with doubles starting at 5 p.m. and singles at 7 p.m.

The draws in each city will be completed with the addition of qualifiers, tournament wildcards and Tour special exemptions. These entrants will be announced at a later date.

With the smaller draw size, qualifying weekend at both tournaments will be extremely competitive with fan favourites such as Tommy Haas, David Nalbandian, Marcos Baghdatis and Shahar Peer all possibilities based on their ranking to be part of the group fighting for a spot into the main draw. Entry to the grounds during qualifying is free for spectators both in Montreal and Toronto.
ENTRY LIST – MAIN DRAW ROGERS CUP TORONTO
(Rankings listed are as of Monday, June 25)

1. DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB 1
2. NADAL, Rafael ESP 2
3. FEDERER, Roger SUI 3
4. MURRAY, Andy GBR 4
5. FERRER, David ESP 5
6. TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA 6
7. BERDYCH, Tomas CZE 7
8. TIPSAREVIC, Janko SRB 8
9. DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG 9
10. ISNER, John USA 10
11. ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP 11
12. FISH, Mardy USA 12
13. SIMON, Gilles FRA 13
14. MONACO, Juan ARG 14
15. MONFILS, Gael FRA 15
16. VERDASCO, Fernando ESP 16
17. LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP 17
18. CILIC, Marin CRO 18
19. GASQUET, Richard FRA 19
20. NISHIKORI, Kei JPN 20
21. DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr UKR 21
22. RAONIC, Milos CAN 22
23. GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP 23
24. WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI 24
25. RODDICK, Andy USA 25
26. SEPPI, Andreas ITA 26
27. STEPANEK, Radek CZE 27
28. TOMIC, Bernard AUS 28
29. MAYER, Florian GER 29
30. KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER 30
31. ANDERSON, Kevin RSA 31
32. BENNETEAU, Julien FRA 32
33. YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS 33
34. TROICKI, Viktor SRB 34
35. MELZER, Jurgen AUT 35
36. ANDUJAR, Pablo ESP 36
37. BERLOCQ, Carlos ARG 37
38. FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP 38
39. SPECIAL EXEMPT / EXEMPTION SPECIALE
40. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
41. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
42. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
43. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ
44. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ
45. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ
46. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ
47. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ
48. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉ

ENTRY LIST – MAIN DRAW ROGERS CUP MONTREAL
(Rankings listed are as of Monday, June 25)

1. SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS 1
2. AZARENKA, Victoria BLR 2
3. RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL 3
4. KVITOVA, Petra CZE 4
5. STOSUR, Samantha AUS 5
6. WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN 7
7. KERBER, Angelique GER 8
8. BARTOLI, Marion FRA 9
9. ERRANI, Sara ITA 10
10. LI, Na CHN 11
11. ZVONAREVA, Vera RUS 12
12. CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK 13
13. IVANOVIC, Ana SRB 14
14. LISICKI, Sabine GER 15
15. KANEPI, Kaia EST 16
16. PENNETTA, Flavia ITA 17
17. PETKOVIC, Andrea GER 18
18. KIRILENKO, Maria RUS 19
19. PETROVA, Nadia RUS 20
20. JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB 21
21. SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE 22
22. VINCI, Roberta ITA 23
23. GOERGES, Julia GER 24
24. CETKOVSKA, Petra CZE 25
25. ZHENG, Jie CHN 27
26. HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK 29
27. PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia RUS 30
28. MCHALE, Christina USA 32
29. NICULESCU, Monica ROU 33
30. PENG, Shuai CHN 34
31. KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS 35
32. WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL 36
33. PASZEK, Tamira AUT 37
34. BARTHEL, Mona GER 39
35. SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP 40
36. PERVAK, Ksenia KAZ 41
37. HALEP, Simona ROU 42
38. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
39. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
40. WILD CARD / LAISSEZ-PASSER
41. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
42. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
43. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
44. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
45. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
46. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
47. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
48. QUALIFIER / QUALIFIÉE
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Sampras versus Raonic in “The Face-Off” Exhibition in November

 

 

Pete Sampras will play Milos Raonic in an exhibition called “The Face-Off” presented by SAP at the Air Canada Centre, Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Raonic  will be joined by WTA star Aleksandra Wozniak and the No. 4 ranked junior in the world Eugénie Bouchard.

 

“Playing in front of my hometown against my hero growing up is a dream come true,” said Raonic, Canada’s highest ranked male singles player ever.  “I’m also really excited about playing the first ever tennis event at the Air Canada Centre with Pete, Aleks, and Eugénie and I know tennis fans in Toronto and surrounding provinces will pack the arena to see how I match up with one of the best of all time”.

“I am looking forward to playing in Canada once again,” said Sampras. “I have great memories playing in the tournaments in Toronto and Montreal during my professional career and playing against Milos will certainly bring out that same competitive fire.  I am anxious to show Milos and the fans that I can still play with the best at the highest level”.

“SAP has a proud and longstanding relationship with tennis and we are excited to extend this to be the presenting partner of The Face-Off event,” said Mark Aboud – Managing Director, SAP Canada.  We are thrilled to support Milos, an SAP Ambassador, through all stages of his career and see tremendous value in bringing this unique family event to the community”.

The format for the evening is scheduled to consist of three parts: 1) Mixed Doubles –Sampras, Raonic, Wozniak and Bouchard join local celebrities, athletes and/or prominent members of the community in a fan-friendly doubles competition. 2) Women’s Singles – Wozniak vs. Bouchard, a competitive singles match showcasing Canadian women’s tennis. 3) Men’s Singles–Sampras vs. Raonic, Hero vs. Prodigy; one of the greatest tennis players of all-time takes on one of the game’s rising stars.

The evening will be emceed by Wayne Bryan, father of the Bryan Brothers.

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ATP Montreal – Saturday Results, Sunday Schedule

ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Montreal, Canada  (-4 hours GMT)
8-14 August, 2011     Surface: Hard

RESULTS – SATURDAY, 13 AUGUST 2011

Singles – Semi-finals
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [13] J Tsonga (FRA) 64 30 Retired (right arm)
[6] M Fish (USA) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 63 64

Doubles – Semi-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d T Berdych (CZE) / F Mayer (GER) 62 61
[4] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN) 63 64

SCHEDULE – SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST, 2011

CENTRAL start 1:00 pm
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [4] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB)

Not Before 3:00 PM
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [6] M Fish (USA)

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WTA Toronto – Friday Results, Saturday Schedule

ROGERS CUP
Toronto, Canada
August 8-14, 2011
$2,050,000/Premier
Hard/Outdoors

Results – Friday, August 12, 2011
Singles – Quarterfinals
(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (Q) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 61 62
(10) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 61
(13) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (11) Andrea Petkovic (GER) 64 63
Serena Williams (USA) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 46 63 62

Doubles – Quarterfinals
(2) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Jans-Ignacik/Rosolska (POL/POL) 62 64
(3) Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Dushevina/Hradecka (RUS/CZE) w/o (Dushevina: right forearm injury)
(4) Azarenka/Kirilenko (BLR/RUS) d. Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE) 63 63
Llagostera Vives/Parra Santonja (ESP/ESP) d. Hsieh/Voskoboeva (TPE/KAZ) 46 64 106 (Match TB)

Order of Play – Saturday, August 13, 2011
Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Rogers Legends Cup: Chang vs. McEnroe
2. Samantha Stosur vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Huber/Raymond vs. Dulko/Pennetta
4. Victoria Azarenka vs. Serena Williams (NB 18.30hrs)
5. Rogers Legends Cup: Agassi vs. Courier

Grandstand (NB 19.30hrs)
Llagostera Vives/Parra Santonja vs. Azarenka/Kirilenko (after suitable rest)

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ATP Montreal – Friday Results, Saturday Schedule

ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Montreal, Canada  (-4 hours GMT)
8-14 August, 2011     Surface: Hard

RESULTS – FRIDAY, 12 AUGUST 2011

Singles – Quarter-finals
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [5] G Monfils (FRA) 62 61
[6] M Fish (USA) d [14] S Wawrinka (SUI) 63 67(8) 60
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [7] T Berdych (CZE) 64 64
[13] J Tsonga (FRA) d [8] N Almagro (ESP) 64 64

Doubles – Quarter-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [5] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 33 Retired – (Bopanna ankle)
[2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN) d J Tsonga (FRA) / S Wawrinka (SUI) 75 76(5)
[4] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [7] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 36 63 11-9
T Berdych (CZE) / F Mayer (GER) d A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) 64 64
SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 13 AUGUST, 2011

CENTRAL start 1:00 pm
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs T Berdych (CZE) / F Mayer (GER)
Not Before 3:00 PM
[6] M Fish (USA) vs J Tipsarevic (SRB)
Not Before 6:00 PM
[4] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs [2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN)
Not Before 8:00 PM
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [13] J Tsonga (FRA)

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