World number one Serena Williams will be taking part at the Rogers Cup 2013 tournament in Toronto next week and the American is not about to take this tournament lightly considering that this will be her first hardcourt tournament of the US Open Series.
Williams is fresh from winning the Swedish Open last week, a claycourt tournament that she participated in after her surprise fourth round defeat at Wimbledon. The American opted to skip the Bank of the West Classic tournament where she was a two-time defending champion and will now be at Toronto. Williams is a two-time champion of the event – in 2001 and 2011.
“That win propelled me to get to the finals of the U.S. Open,” Williams said, referring to her 2011 triumph in Canada. “Being able to capitalize in Toronto at that time was just really exciting and good for me.”
Back then, Williams was still ranked 80th in the world but now that’s she’s ranked number one, the American said that she still wants to do well in this tournament.
“My mindset nowadays is to always have fun but still do the best that I can,” Williams said. “I feel like I’ve had a decent year for me, I guess. The year’s not over. I honestly would have preferred to do better in some tournaments. So for me I need to do well in a tournament like Toronto to get ready for the last grand slam of the year and do really well there, as well.”
World number two Maria Sharapova has already withdrawn from the event but it is still packed with talented tennis stars including number three Victoria Azarenka, number four Agnieszka Radwanska and number five Li Na.
The Rogers Cup 2013 tournament begins on August 5.
