Sharapova, Serbian stars top WTA Montreal lineup
7 hours ago
Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon 2008.
MONTREAL (AFP) — World number one Ana Ivanovic, fighting to hold onto her top ranking, and Russian star Maria Sharapova return from their poor Wimbledon campaigns this week at the WTA 1.34 million-dollar Rogers Cup.
Seven of the top nine women in the world are in Montreal, even though the event lacks Serena and Venus Williams, both sidelined by knee injuries, and 2007 tournament winner Justine Henin, who has retired.
The fight for number one should add spice to the toughest tuneup for next month's start of the US Open, with Ivanovic being tested by Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic, who lost to Henin in last year's final.
Jankovic missed a chance to grab the top spot by losing a Los Angeles semi-final on Saturday but remains within reach of the world number one spot and the top prize of 196,900 dollars this week as the second seed.
"Hopefully, my time will come," Jankovic said. "It is not the end of the world. I have to continue to work hard."
French Open champion Ivanovic won here two years ago when the tournament, which alternates between Toronto and Montreal, was last played in Quebec.
She defeated Swiss star Martina Hingis in the 2006 final.
Top seed Ivanovic, who was bounced in the second round last year in Toronto by China's Zi Yan, has third seed Sharapova in the same half of the draw and a host of other Russian rivals among the top seeds.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded fourth followed by Russian compatriots Elena Dementieva, Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.
Sharapova's history in Canada is not good, falling in the first round in 2003 and the third round in 2004 in her only prior appearances.
Kuznetsova, who is also playing in her first event since Wimbledon, was ousted in the quarter-finals in Canada in each of the past two years.
All four top seeds failed to reach the final eight at Wimbledon.
The host nation's top hope is Aleksandra Wozniak, who earlier this month became the first Canadian to win a WTA singles title in more than 20 years when she won the Stanford crown.
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AFP
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I'm so excited to see her play again! I hope she has a nice run or moreover wins the tour.
She looks so good! 
I really like seeing Maria chatting with other russians 
