Practice pictures from Montreal

I've had the opportunity to visit the Coupe Rogers this week - the Montreal edition of the Canadian hard court tournaments, this year featuring the WTA. I was only there for a couple of hours, and since it was the day before the main draw matches started, I mainly spent them on the practice courts. All the pictures can be found on my Facebook page, and meanwhile here are a few samples:

Ana Ivanovic practicing her serve

Petra Kvitova hitting a backhand

Marion Bartoli, practicing in a unique way

The Bartoli practice, naturally, drew a large crowd. Her father and her measure the exact distances from the attachment point of the ropes to the baseline, and they film the practice, as she needs to return 2 baskets of tennis balls from the same point, while her legs and racquet are held by the rubber bands. After she finished the first basket, the crowd started applauding...