MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Anna Kournikova looks to build upon her best results of the season on Monday night when she takes on Japanese qualifier Saori Obata in the first round of the $1.22 million Rogers AT&T Cup.

Kournikova reached her third semifinals of the season two weeks ago at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She beat then-No. 18 Anna Smashnova in the quarterfinals, but fell to No. 5 Jelena Dokic after holding two match points in the second set.

A week before, Kournikova snapped a five-match losing streak in Stanford, where she reached the quarterfinals. She did not play last week's event in Los Angeles.

The 21-year-old Russian was out eight months last season with a broken foot, but has shown improvement since hooking up with new coach Harold Solomon, who helped revive Jennifer Capriati's career.

Kournikova's countrywoman, ninth seed Elena Dementieva, tries to avoid a three-match losing streak Monday night against Adriana Serra Zanetti of Italy. Dementieva has reached at least the quarterfinals at six tournaments this season and the fourth round at the French Open and Wimbledon. She appeared in her second career final in June at the Ordina Open.

No. 10 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy begins her North American hardcourt campaign with an encounter with Canadian Maureen Drake. Farina Elia played in a pair of European claycourt events after reaching the third round of Wimbledon, losing in the second round in each.

No. 11 Anastasia Myskina of Russia plays Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina; No. 12 Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic meets American qualifier Jill Craybas; Smashnova, the 13th seed from Israel, faces Alexandra Stevenson of the United States; and No. 14 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg battles Spanish qualifier Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Ten matches between unseeded players are on Monday's schedule. Of interest, Mary Pierce, who was born in Montreal but plays for France, squares off against Slovakian qualifier Henrieta Nagyova.

Pierce is making her seventh apperance at this event, reaching the semifinals in 1994 and 1999. She had been off the WTA Tour since May 2001 with a chronic infammation of the lumbar spain and missed time this season with an abdominal strain.

The two-time Grand Slam champion is 2-0 lifetime against Nagyova.

This tournament, which offers a first prize of $182,000, serves as a warmup for the U.S. Open.

Serena Williams, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is seeded No. 1 as she attempts to defend her crown. She defeated Capriati in last year's final in Montreal and was runner-up here two years ago to Martina Hingis.

Hingis returns to action this week after undergoing surgery to repair torn and damaged ligaments in her left ankle. She has not played since Hamburg in early May, when she reached the semifinals and won the doubles title with Barbara Schett.

Williams and Hingis, as well as the rest of the top eight seeds, received first-round byes.