By Canadian Press

Canadians Fernandez, Bouchard join Sharapova, Venus Williams as Rogers Cup wild cards

Jul 31, 2019 | 10:27 AM

TORONTO — Canadians Leylah Annie Fernandez and Eugenie Bouchard will join Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams as wild-card entries at the upcoming Rogers Cup women’s event in Toronto.

Tennis Canada announced the additions to the tournament’s main draw Wednesday.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., will be making her Rogers Cup main draw debut after losing in the final round of qualifying in Montreal last year.

The 16-year-old is ranked 257th in the world but is coming off string of impressive results. She won the women’s junior title at the French Open last month and recently earned her first two professional titles, winning in both women’s singles and doubles competition at the Gatineau National Bank Challenger.

She also reached the singles final at last week’s Granby Challenger.

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Bouchard, ranked 114th in the world, will be competing at the Rogers Cup for a 12th time, with her best result coming in 2016 when she reached the third round. The 25-year-old reached has made runs to the quarterfinals in two WTA tournaments since the start of the year but has struggled overall with a 6-11 record on the season.

The Canadians will join world no. 26 Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., in the main draw. After a strong start to the season that included a title at Indian Wells, the 19-year-old Andreescu has played just one match since late March due to a shoulder injury.

Sharapova and Williams, both formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, have a combined 12 Grand Slam titles. Williams is currently ranked 50th in the world, and Sharapova is 82nd.

Tennis Canada said Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino of Vancouver is missing the tournament with a nagging foot injury. Marino recently finished play at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, after losing her first-round women’s singles match.

Tennis Canada said a fifth wild-card spot will be filled at a later date.

Toronto’s Katherine Sebov, Montreal’s Francoise Abanda, Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski were awarded spots in the qualifying competition.

The event will take place at the Aviva Centre in Toronto from Aug. 3 to 11.

The Canadian Press