August 22, 2009

Ron Turenne

August 22, 2009

Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez are a Spanish duo taking doubles by storm. These women have been playing on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for thirteen years and very recently discovered that they were made for each other. The team made up of one right-handed player and one lefty, know their individual strengths well. This year alone the pair holds four titles together; Bogota, Acapulco, Barcelona and Palermo.

This is Llagostera Vives's third time at Rogers Cup having never won on Canadian soil. As one of the shortest women on the Tour at 5'1" she is currently ranked in the Top 100 in singles and inside the Top 20 in doubles.

For Martinez Sanchez, this Rogers Cup marks her second appearance at the tournament. She is at the peak of her career now having found a complementary partner to help her reach new heights after more than a decade on Tour.

The pair played for the Spanish Fed Cup team in 2008-2009 and played for Spain at the Olympics in Beijing as well. They first started playing together periodically in 2002 and since deciding to become a permanent pair they have been unstoppable. They currently sit at No. 3 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Doubles Race behind only Cara Black and Liezel Huber and Serena and Venus Williams.

Also finalists at Cincinnati last week, Rogers Cup has been a continuation of their dominance. They have now reached a second consecutive final and tomorrow they will look to add to their 2009 trophy collection and their growing superiority on Tour.