Bouchard shows her fighting spirit
Canadian on to second round after surviving tiebreak with Safarova
MONTREAL Hometown favourite Eugenie Bouchard gave a boisterous crowd its money’s worth Tuesday as she battled for more than two hours before claiming a 6-3, 3-6 7-6 (3) tiebreak win over Czech Lucie Safarova in the first round of the Rogers Cup women’s tennis championships at Uniprix Stadium.
Bouchard showed signs of the fighting spirit which propelled her into the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings in 2014.
There were some hiccups, but Bouchard generally played well against an experienced player who checks in at No. 28 in the rankings, 14 spots ahead of Bouchard. She had three break-point opportunities while trailing 3-1 in the second set and failed to capitalize.
Safarova took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker but Bouchard reeled off six consecutive points. She went all in to hit two passing shots and the match came to an anticlimactic finish when Safarova double-faulted on match point.
“The crowd was incredible,” Bouchard said before ducking away to prepare for a doubles match later in the day.
There were no further comments from Bouchard, who begged off a post-match news conference because she wasn’t feeling well.
Earlier in the day Italian Sara Errani edged Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., 6-4, 7-6. The crowd got another treat when Montrealer Françoise Abanda’s match against Saisai Zheng of China was moved from the grandstand to the stadium after Garbine Muguruza withdrew with a stomach ailment. Abanda delighted the fans with a surprising 6-1, 7-5 win for her first main draw win on the WTA Tour. It was a surprise because Abanda is No. 272 in the WTA rankings and Zheng checks in at 66.
Abanda said she felt some nerves when Zheng came back from a 4-1 deficit to lead 5-4 in the second set.
“I didn’t panic and I kept my calm, just keep my focus and closed it out in two sets,” said Abanda.
Abanda will play 17th-seeded Elina Svitolina on the Banque Nationale court Wednesday afternoon. They played in the Wimbledon juniors in 2014 with Svitolina winning in three sets.
Wozniak, who reached a careerhigh No. 21 in 2009, said she’s starting to feel good after five years of dealing with injuries, including a shoulder injury which required surgery in 2014 and kept her sidelined for most of 2015. She hasn’t won a main-draw match on the WTA Tour since March 2014 but she was encouraged by her play Tuesday.
“It was a close match today, playing the No. 25 in the world,” said Wozniak. “I thought I played well. I had some opportunities to turn it around but I’m happy with the performance.”
Fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania moved into the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova of Australia. Tenthseeded Madison Keys of the U.S. cruised past Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-0 to set up the battle of Madisons. She’ll play fellow American Madison Brengle in the second round.
Fourteenth-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic defeated Ukraine qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 3-6, 6-2, 7-5; 15thseeded Johanna Konta of Britain beat American Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 16th seed from Russia, outlasted Yulia Putinseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.