Serena Williams has decided to compete next month in Toronto, having returned to action two weeks ago at Wimbledon after a year away from competition, tournament organisers have confirmed.
Serena, who suffered a second straight Wimbledon first-round exit this year, elected to use her protected ranking to enter the main draw of the August 6-15 National Bank Open for the first time since her run to the 2019 final.
In that final, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu consolidated a break to go 3-1 up at which point Serena, a three-time winner of the event, went to her chair and broke down in tears due to back spasms that forced her to retire 19 minutes into the match.
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Organisers said 41 of the top 43-ranked players on the WTA Tour are on the Toronto entry list, including Poland’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek, four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka of Japan and Britain’s US Open champion Emma Raducanu.