The WTA National Bank Open in Montreal will be the host of some big names in the WTA this week. Although, there are a few big names who withdrew from the competition. Those players are Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek, Belinda Bencic, Barbora Krejčíková, Jennifer Brady, Angelique Kerber, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Marketa Vondrousova. Despite these big names missing this event, the field is loaded with talent. Here are the top five seeds for the event.
Top 5 Seeds At WTA Montreal Open
Aryna Sabalenka
The Belarussian is the top seed for the event. She has skyrocketed to the top of WTA rankings and is ranked a career high of World No.3 at the moment. However, she is coming from a devastating loss to Donna Vekić at the Olympics. She will look to bounce back from that defeat. Before that she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon where she lost in three sets to Karolina Pliskova.
The last time this event was played, in 2019, she lost in the first round to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She will try to live up to the expectations of being the top seed and being one of the favorites to win the tournament. She will have a first round bye and will face the winner of the match between Dayana Yastremska and Sloane Stephens.
Bianca Andreescu
The defending champion will look to repeat what she did back in 2019 when she claimed the title after Serena Williams retired due to an injury in the final. The young Canadian has a new coach in Sven Groeneveld. She parted ways with her previous coach Sylvain Bruneau and will look to implement what she is learning from her new coach to her game. She is the number two seed in the tournament and will be the hope for a Canadian to win the title in home soil.
Last time this tournament was played she dropped a set in every match except in the semifinal. There she won in straight sets against Sofia Kenin. That is something Andreescu must work on so that she doesn’t spend much time on court. She will have a first round bye and will play the winner of the match between Harriet Dart and Leylah Fernandez.
Elina Svitolina
Newlywed Svitolina is coming from winning the Bronze Medal in the summer Olympics in Tokyo. She had a great week and will try to bring that game to this tournament. She is the number three seed in this tournament. Last time this tournament was played she reached the quarterfinals. There, she lost to Sofia Kenin in straight sets.
Now, the Ukrainian is coming in great form and will try to produce some of her best tennis in this big event. She has a first round bye and awaits the winner of the match between Shuai Zhang and Johanna Konta.
Karolina Pliskova
She will be the No. 4 seed in this event and is one of the heavy favorites to win it all this year. She is coming from a devastating loss to Camila Giorgi in the Olympics but can turn things around coming to this tournament. Last time this event was held she reached the quarterfinals where she lost to the eventual champion Bianca Andreescu in three sets.
She will have a first round bye and will play the winner of the match between Alison Van Uytvanck and Donna Vekić.
Garbiñe Muguruza
The Spaniard is the fifth seed in this tournament and has risen her level as of late. Last time this event was played she did not play. This means she has no points to defend and can play freely with no pressure. She is coming from a decent Olympics performance where she reached the quarterfinals where she lost to Elena Rybakina.
She has a first round bye and will play the winner from the battle between Jelena Ostapenko and Katerina Siniakova.
Notable Wild Cards at the WTA Montreal Open
Some big names accepted a wild card entry and those are Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens. The Romanian will be back in action after she retired from the Rome Masters after suffering a calf injury. Since then, she has missed three months of tennis. She will have a first round bye and will face the winner of the match between Danielle Collins and Jil Teichmann. Finally, Canadian local players Rebecca Marino, Carol Zhao, and Leylah Fernandez also accepted wild cards for the tournament.
Main Photo from Getty.
