WTA Rogers Cup Event Offering Perks To Draw Participants

Spa Facility One Of New Amenities Being Offered By Rogers Cup

Participants in this week’s WTA Rogers Cup tournament in Toronto will “enjoy several new amenities,” including an Aveda spa facility offering manicures, hairstyling and facials, according to James Bisson of the CP.  Player absences have “plagued the past two Rogers Cup events, partly because players wanted to rest up before the U.S. Open in two weeks.”  The spa is “designed to provide WTA stars with added comfort -- and added incentive" to play the tournament in the future. Rogers Cup Dir Karl Hale said, “We sent out some gifts to some of the players so they could see what we were doing. But unless you experience it, you really don’t know what it’s about. The feedback we’ve received so far has been excellent.”  Bisson noted the spa facility was “completely booked” yesterday, with players “scrambling to secure a time for later in the week”  (CP, 8/13). 

WOMEN'S GAME IN DECLINE: In Toronto, Damien Cox writes while “just a few years ago the women’s game was perceived to have become more colourful and interesting than the men’s game," the retirement of players like Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Kim Clijsters and "ongoing problems with getting players to appear when they’re supposed to appear has once again put the women a step behind. So changes [Roadmap 2010] are on the way. But they’re still two years or more away” (TORONTO STAR, 8/14).