NEWS ROGERS CUP 2014. 4 AUGUST 2014EU

EUGENIE BOUCHARD

Again this year, the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank will kick off in style with the Hygrade Family Weekend from Friday, August 1 to Sunday, August 3, as the site opens its doors to the public.

Starting Friday, fans will have front row seats to watch the world’s best women’s tennis players train. French Open champion Maria Sharapova has already booked Centre Court from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday and from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC) will hit on Centre Court on Saturday at 2 p.m., and Petra Kvitova, who took home the Wimbledon crown just a few weeks ago, will train on Friday at 6 p.m. More time slots will be confirmed throughout the day tomorrow. Official draw The public is also invited to the official tournament draw on Friday at 5:15 p.m. on the Scène Casino de Montréal stage. World no.4 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic will be on hand and take questions from the media. Canadians in action The qualification rounds get underway on Saturday, August 2 as several Top 100 players go head-to-head. World no.40 Bojana Jovanovski is the early favourite to make it into the main draw. Also vying for a spot are Canadians Françoise Abanda (Montréal, QC), Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, QC), Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), Heidi El Tabakh (Toronto, ON) and Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill, ON)—one of which will receive the final wildcard.