Bouchard breezes into 2nd round, but Polansky bounced by Zverev
NEW YORK (CP) — Peter Polansky’s luck ran out at the U.S. Open, while Eugenie Bouchard is moving through to the second round.
Polansky made tennis history when he completed the “calendar lucky loser slam” last week after being selected for a spot in the U.S. Open main draw despite losing his final qualifying match. But his good fortune came to an end when he was drawn to play his first match against fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
The German star downed the 119th-ranked Canadian 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday in a first-round match that took just one hour 36 minutes.
In an evening draw, Canada’s Bouchard downed Harmony Tan of France 6-3, 6-1.
Despite the result, Polansky’s appearance in the U.S. Open main draw capped a curiously remarkable run at this season’s Grand Slams for the 30-year old from Thornhill, Ont.
Polansky lost in the third and final round of qualifying at all four majors, only to advance by lottery to fill a spot in the main draw vacated by a withdrawing player.
Bouchard, ranked 137th, only needed one hour seven minutes to topple her 396th-ranked opponent. Including qualifying, Bouchard has won four straight matches at Flushing Meadows, but this was only her first victory in the main draw since 2015.
The Westmount, Que., native, who is the only Canadian in women’s singles in New York, will face 103rd-ranked Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic eventually got past Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, but it was a bit of an ordeal. “Survival mode,” Djokovic called it. With the temperature topping 33 Celsius and the humidity approaching 50 per cent — and that combination making it feel more like 40 C — nearly everything became a struggle for every player across the grounds on Day 2 of the U.S. Open, so much so that no fewer than six quit their matches, with at least four citing cramps or heat exhaustion.