Rogers Cup tennis: Men's, women's semifinals, finals on CBC
If Canadian tennis stars MilosRaonic and Eugenie Bouchard continue their successful seasons and advance to the semifinals at the upcoming Rogers Cup, CBC television and CBCSports.ca will bring fans all the action.
The CBC will have live TV and online coverage of the semifinals and finals from both the men`s tournament at Rexall Centre in Toronto and women’s event at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal on Aug. 9 and 10, respectively.
Raonic, who lost 6-2, 6-2 to Rafael Nadal in last year’s Rogers Cup final, enters this year’s event as the No. 7 seed after making a semifinal appearance recently at Wimbledon.
The Thornhill, Ont., native began the season as the 12th-ranked singles player on the ATP Tour but has since climbed to third spot.
The road to this year’s final probably won’t be any easier for Raonic as the star-studded field will include each of the world’s top 44 ranked men’s singles players, most notably past champions Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Nadal.
Raonic’s appearance in last year’s final was the first for any Canadian in 55 years at the country’s biggest tennis tournament.
“This year is shaping up to be one of our best yet with all the top players arriving in Toronto in peak form,” men’s tournament director Karl Hale said in a statement. “The players really take our tournament seriously.”
World No. 1 Djokovic will be the top seed in Toronto, followed by Nadal and Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam champion.
Juan Martin del Potro, who is seeded eighth in the world, has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup due to his ongoing recovering from wrist surgery. Wimbledon semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov will take his spot and gain a first-round bye.
Elliotte Friedman will host CBC’s coverage from the men’s tournament at York University in Toronto, with Bruce Rainnie handling play-by-play. Former world No. 5 Jimmy Arias will join him in the booth while David Amber will file reports on scene.
Fans in Montreal will get a chance to cheer hometown hero Eugenie Bouchard, who’s enjoying a breakout season on the WTA Tour.
She’ll enter the Rogers Cup as the No. 6 seed after notching her first tournament victory earlier this season and reaching the semifinals at both the Australian Open and French Open.
Bouchard topped those feats by advancing to her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, where Petra Kvitova prevailed in straight sets.
Bouchard, who also lost to then-defending Rogers Cup champion Kvitova in the Round of 32 last summer in Toronto, started the 2014 season ranked 31st in the world.
This year’s Rogers Cup field features 38 of the top 40-ranked women’s singles players, including defending champion Serena Williams, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Sharapova and Kvitova.
Li will be the second seed in Montreal and Kvitova at No. 3.
Faye Urban Mlacek was the last Canadian women’s singles player to win the Rogers Cup in 1969.
The CBC’s Brenda Irving will be reporting courtside from Montreal.
Viewers can connect with CBC throughout the men’s and women’s tournaments at cbcsports.ca/tennis and on Twitter @CBCSports using the hashtag #RogersCup.
