Stephens, Fernandez and Marino join Simona Halep as National Bank Open wildcards

The National Bank Open in Montreal will feature a very strong field of players despite some notable cancellations days ahead of the event start.

Simona Halep is a notable name that will return to tennis at the event having not played for several months missing out on the French Open, Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics. The Romanian player can't wait to get back onto the court and she will do it in Montreal.

Besides her, several other players received wild card entries into the event. Sloane Stephens will be part of the main draw thanks to a wild card entry as will Leylah Fernandez. The young Canadian plays her best tennis on hard courts and she will look to make her Canadian fans proud.

Another Canadian that receive a wild card entry into the event is Rebecca Marino. The 30-year old veteran used to be a top 40 player a decade ago but now ranks well outside the top 100. Thanks to a wild card entry she will get the chance to compete at a Masters 100 event.

The final wild card entry into the event will be Carol Zhao who represent Canada in tennis despite being originally from China. She too will get a chance to compete at a WTA 1000 event which she usually does not get ranking well outside the top 100.