Serena Williams looks to move closer to her third Canadian Open title when she takes on Andrea Petkovic in tonight’s headline match in Toronto.

Serena is gearing up for one of the most important months of her career as she aims to secure her second Calendar Slam and fifth slam title in a row in a months time in New York.

At a stunning 41-1 on the year, Serena is in the midst of the best year of her career at age 33 and shows no signs of letting up. While the occasional blip shows in her matches, she still looks unstoppable at her best with very few ready to challenge her unless she has a very bad match or her serve collapses. Plenty such occasions showed in France and Wmbledon but she would always show enough grit to recover.

Petkovic, 0-4 against Serena,  is now back solidly in the top 20 but has looked shaky so far in her few matches since beginning the North American swing. Carina Witthoeft and Francoise Abanda took Petkovic to three setters while Mona Barthel was victorious in one in Stanford last week.

While it is unlikely to have any impact on who makes the final in general, the top half of the draw has seen 5 seeds out before the round of 16. Included in them were Lucie Safarova and Caroline Wozniacki while Ana Ivanovic remains the highest ranked possible opponent for the winner of this match before the final.

Expect Serena to push on in this match, having avoided a scare against Flavia Pennetta in her opener.