ROGERS CUP. Barty, Osaka top seeds. Serena Williams no.9

TORONTO. Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka will be leading the seeding, However, Serena Williams is in the pack

Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka

The Rogers Cup will commence from next week, and the seeding has been announced.

This year the WTA event will be hosted in Toronto, and the seeds are 1. Barty 2. Osaka 3. Pliskova 4. Halep 5. Bertens 6. Kvitova 7. Svitolina 8. Stephens 9. S. Williams 10. Sabalenka 11. Sevastova 12. Bencic 13. Kerber 14. Konta 15. Keys 16. Wozniacki.

Ashleigh Barty

The Australian is in command of the rankings with a 348 points advantage of the world no.2 Naomi Osaka. In 2018, Ashleigh reached the semifinal in Montreal before losing to Simona Halep. This year she is the favorite to win the title.

Naomi Osaka

The Japanese has been struggling this year after she conquered the title at the Australian Open and she parted ways with her coach Sascha Bajin. However, the former world no.1 has always stated that she has problems with expectations and therefore not being at the top of the rankings could improve her results as she should feel less pressure. Toronto could be a great chance for her to bounce back.

Serena Williams

The American sensation had a fantastic run in Wimbledon before capitulating to a great Simona Halep in the final. It’s well known that Serena’s main focus is winning slams in order to equal and beat Margaret Court’s record of 24 slams (Serena is at 23).

Nevertheless, the former world no.1 is well aware that to conquer a slam she needs to play much more and therefore she was happy to compete in Toronto where she is seeded no.9.

The defending champion is Simona Halep that last year defeated Sloane Stephens in the final 7-6 (6) 3-6 6-4.