Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic confirms her participation in the 2008 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank

Serbian player Ana Ivanovic has confirmed her participation in the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, which will be held at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal from July 26 to August 3, 2008. Ivanovic and tournament director Eugene Lapierre made the announcement via telephone conference call from Indian Wells, California. Ivanovic is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, a career high.

Ivanovic won her first Tier I* tournament at the Rogers Cup when Montreal hosted the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 2006. Since her triumph in Montreal, twenty-year-old Ivanovic has reached her first two Grand Slam finals at Roland-Garros in 2007 (becoming the first Serbian player to reach the final round of a Grand Slam tournament) and at the Australian Open in January 2008. She was also a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2007.

“I can’t wait to be back in Montreal”, declared Ivanovic. “I played one of the best matches of my career in the final against Martina Hingis and I loved the atmosphere in the stadium. Of course, it will be hard for me to do better than in 2006 but I have the firm intention of defending my title. I really want to keep the Serbian streak alive! (Serbian Novak Djokovic won the men’s Rogers Cup in 2007)”.

Since she joined the professional tour in 2003, Ivanovic has won five WTA titles (2007: Berlin, Los Angeles, Luxembourg; 2006: Montréal; 2005: Canberra).

“We are very proud to be able to confirm the participation of a player of Ana’s calibre this early in the season” said Mr. Lapierre. “She burst onto the scene by winning the Rogers Cup and then quickly became one of the most dominating players on the tour. Canadian tennis fans were charmed by her game and bubbly personality two years ago and they will certainly be happy to know that she already put the Montreal stop on her agenda.”

* Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Berlin, Rome, Montréal, Tokyo, Moscow