体坛英语新闻：Williams sisters to attend Rogers Cup tennis in Toronto

TORONTO, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The 2011 tennis female elite will grace the courts of Toronto from August 6 to 14 in 2011 for Rogers Cup and the player lineup will include Venus and Serena Williams, who confirmed the participation at Wimbledon the week.

"Venus and I are thrilled to come to Toronto this summer to play at Rogers Cup," said 13-time Grand Slam singles champion, Serena Williams, at Wimbledon this week. "I am excited to compete for the Rogers Cup championship."

There is a great deal of anticipation for the Williams sisters, especially considering both ladies have missed almost all of the 2011 tournaments due to injuries.

Wimbledon marks Serena's first Grand Slam event of the year and Venus' first Grand Slam since the 2011 Australian Open.

The sisters are all enjoying progress at the Wimbledon Championship. Venus Williams, seeded 23rd, breezed past Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-0, 6-2 on Friday, reaching the last 16.

Seventh seed Serena, who is well on the way of recovering form, is slated to play Russian Maria Kirilenko, seeded 26th in her third round match.

New for 2011, Rogers Cup will be virtually combined, with the men's and women's tournaments taking place on the same week ( August 5-14) in Montreal and Toronto respectively.

This format guarantees that the Canada will be on the global stage, as top elite athletes from around the world compete for the title of Rogers Cup champion.

"One of the common denominators is that they (Williams sisters) missed tennis over the past year," said the tournament director Karl Hale on Friday.

"They're really excited to get back on the court and play a lot of tennis over the next couple of years. They're hungrier than ever to get out and achieve on the tennis court, which will be good for Rogers Cup."