Ivanovic commits to Rogers Cup

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Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the No. 2 player in the world, is the first confirmed entry in this year’s Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Montreal.”I had such a nice time there two years ago. I’m excited to see the fans again,” Ivanovic, the 2006 champion, said via conference call Wednesday. “Against Martina [Hingis, in the 2006 final], I played perfect tennis . . . I enjoyed every moment of it.”

The tournament has been plagued by a series of high-profile withdrawals in recent years. In 2006, the last time the event was held in Montreal, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams were among 11 players to pull out.

Last year in Toronto, it was almost as bad. Venus, Mauresmo, Vaidisova, Sharapova, Sania Mirza and Hingis were the more notable no-shows.

“They were still very strong fields, with lots of top players,” said Ivanovic, who has competed as promised in the last three editions. “It’s very hard to predict these things, because the season is quite tough. And it comes so close to the big block with the French Open and Wimbledon.”

This year the women’s tournament will be held July 26 to Aug. 3 - two weeks early because of the Olympics.