The stage is set for the first WTA 1000 event of the summer hardcourt season, as the draw for the National Bank Open in Montreal was done on Saturday.

A marquee quarterfinal clash is already a possibility in the bottom quarter, where former champions Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep, both returning from layoffs, were drawn. 

View the full draw HERE!

Main-draw play begins on Monday, with Aryna Sabalenka leading the field as the No.1 seed. The three most recent champions, Halep (2016 and 2018), Elina Svitolina (2017), and homeland hero Andreescu (2019), are all also seeded inside the Top 8.

All of the Top 8 seeds have first-round byes in the 56-player main-draw.

The top of the draw is headed by World No.3 Sabalenka, who is aiming to reach the quarterfinals in Canada for the first time in her career. Sabalenka recently made her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.

After her first-round bye, Sabalenka has a challenging path. She will face either 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Dayana Yastremska in the second round. After that, No.16 seed Madison Keys, the 2016 National Bank Open runner-up, might await in the third round.

An all-Belarusian quarterfinal could be in the offing as No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka lingers at the other end of that section. Former World No.1 Azarenka reached the semifinals of the National Bank Open three times between 2008 and 2011.

The second quarter contains two former World No.1 players -- this season's Wimbledon finalist, No.4 seed Karolina Pliskova, and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza, seeded No.5. 

Read more: Roundtable: Previewing the North American summer hardcourt swing

Former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko and No.12 seed Elena Rybakina, a semifinalist at the Tokyo Olympics, could face Muguruza in the second and third round respectively.

Another star of the Tokyo Olympics, bronze medalist Svitolina, leads the third quarter as the No.3 seed. 2017 National Bank Open champion Svitolina will face either Johanna Konta or Zhang Shuai in the second round, and she could meet No.15 seed Coco Gauff in the round of 16.

One more former National Bank Open champion, No.7 seed Petra Kvitova, is also in Svitolina's quarter. In the third round, 2012 champion Kvitova might meet No.9 seed Elise Mertens, who is still alive in the San Jose semifinals as the top seed this week.

Finally, in the bottom quarter lies No.2 seed Andreescu and No.6 seed Halep, as the two most recent National Bank Open champions make their returns to WTA play.

Both are coming back to action after lengthy absences -- Andreescu has not played since a first-round loss to Alizé Cornet at Wimbledon, while Halep will make her first appearance on court since retiring due to a calf injury suffered against Angelique Kerber at Rome in May.

Andreescu and Halep will likely each have challenging tests before they potentially meet in the last eight. Andreescu might meet a fellow Canadian, rising teen Leylah Fernandez, in her first match. Andreescu could then face No.13 seed Ons Jabeur in the third round.

Halep could face surging American Danielle Collins in the second round, and No.10 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the round of 16. Pavlyuchenkova has reached the Roland Garros final and won an Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles already this season.