Jelena Jankovic - Getty Images

Top Seeds Battle for Rogers Cup Crown

August 18, 2007 - After a week of shocking upsets and several new faces in the mix, the 2007 Rogers Cup presented by American Express will end with a bang as championship Sunday features a blockbuster final.

For the first time since 1999, the top two seeds in the draw will play for the tournament’s coveted crystal racquet as world No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic will face off in the afternoon.

Both players have established themselves as the cream of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour crop, winning a combined nine titles this year (Henin has captured five while Jankovic has collected four).  Henin holds a clear advantage head-to-head in winning all six of their career match ups, including a tough three-set victory on the hard court in Doha earlier this season.  However, Jankovic is a much-improved player since then and is having a career-year so far in 2007. 

At 25-years old, Henin is the veteran of the two, with several more years of experience on the Tour and numerous weeks spent at No. 1 in the world rankings.  She has collected nine career Tier I championships, including the 2003 Rogers Cup, however, she will no doubt be hungry for another as it has been more than two years since she collected the last one.  In that time, the native of Liege, Belgium has kept herself busy by winning three straight French Open championships (2005-07), to add to her growing list of accomplishments that includes another French Open trophy (in 2003), the 2003 US Open title, and the 2004 Australian Open crown.

Jankovic showed signs of greatness in past years but has exploded onto the scene this season and has been rewarded with a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world.  She collected Tier I victories in Charleston and Rome earlier this year and reached her second career Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open.  The 22-year old Serbian has established herself as somewhat of an “ironwoman,” playing in more tournaments than anyone else in the top 10, and as a result she became the fastest woman in 33 years to reach 50 match wins in a single season.

At the start of the tournament, more than one hundred women were in the running for the Rogers Cup presented by American Express championship.  One week later only two remain, the highest seed on each side of the draw.  With this match up, tomorrow’s final can be nothing but thrilling.

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