From grass to clay to hard courts, Bertens not concerned with workload

World No. 5 Kiki Bertens has played a lot of tennis in 2019, racking up 40 wins over 55 matches ahead of the North American hard-court swing. The Dutchwoman isn’t concerned about her heavy workload, instead seeing her expenditure as a major benefit to her overall growth and development.

“I love playing matches. I think matches are improving my game,” Bertens told Prakash Amritraj, "so I’m really happy with the way I’m playing this year.”

Bertens comes into the Rogers Cup on an interesting swing: after losing to Barbora Strycova in the third round of Wimbledon, the former French Open semifinalist opted to return to clay, reaching the Palermo final, where she was upset by Jil Teichmann. She had a week off in between and is finding her footing in Toronto, on the court and off.

“We just changed to the uptown hotel, because the traffic was a little too far! But I like to go to the cinemas. We’re going to watch the Lion King this afternoon,” Bertens said.

Nearly a year ago, the 27-year-old lifted her biggest hard-court crown in Cincinnati, which, like the Rogers Cup, is a WTA Premier 5 tournament.