The Rogers Cup is one of the most distinguished tournaments in both Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) circuit. The tournament is regarded as a 1000-point ATP World tour while it is categorised as a Premier 5 event on the WTA tour.
Played annually on the hard court, the 2018 Rogers Cup will be held from August 6 to August 12.
History
The tournament has been held since 1881 for the men before the inclusion of the Women's tennis in 1892. The tournament is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world with only Wimbledon and the US Open having longer histories than the Canada-based competition.
The tournament was known as the Canadian National Championships till 1967 and was part of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour under the Grand Super Series from 1970 to 1989.
Rogers Cup was played on clay surface until 1979 before switching to the hard surface in 1980. From the same year, the Men's competition was started to be organised in Montreal while the Women's competition has been held in Toronto in the odd-numbered years. In the even-number years, the Men’s event goes to Toronto while the Women’s tournament shifts to Montreal.
Earlier, the Men’s and the Women’s events used to be played in different weeks. Since 2011, the organisers are holding both tournaments in the same week of August simultaneously. The men’s tournament is also known as the Toronto Masters, while the women’s tournament is known as Montreal Masters.
About
Rogers Cup will include the Men’s and Women’s singles along with the Men’s doubles and the Women’s doubles.
The Men’s singles and the Women’s singles will feature 64 players respectively while both Men’s and Women’s doubles will witness 32 teams each.
Favourites
With 19 of the top 20 singles players in the ATP rankings locking horn in Toronto, the tournament is expected to witness some exciting tennis in Canada.
After Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament, the stake remains high for Djokovic after the former World No. 1 rejuvenated his shrinking career with a hard-fought and sumptuous Wimbledon victory in 2018. If the Serbian can carry on his form to Toronto, he is likely to bag his fifth Rogers Cup title, which he last won in 2016.
Although the current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has not played any hard-court tournament since the 2018 Australian Open, the Spaniard will also chase to win his first Rogers Cup title since 2017.
Third seed Juan Martin del Potro and the defending champion Alexander Zverev will also be in contention for the prestigious tournament.
In the Women's singles, top two players in the WTA rankings Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki will go into the tournament as the favourites. Although both players did not have much success after Halep won the French Open and Wozniacki lifted the Australian Open in 2018, they will like to take benefit of Serena Williams’ off-form.
With unseeded Williams struggling to get back her form since her return after more than a year absence from the professional tennis, Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber and Miami Open champion Sloane Stephens will also fancy their chances to win the title.
Prize Money
| Event | Prize Money |
| Men’s Singles | $3,712,840 |
| Women’s Singles | $1,800,935 |
| Men’s Doubles | $985, 120 |
| Women’s Doubles | $934,204 |
