Canucks Bouchard, Polansky close in on main draw

NEW YORK — Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the final round of women’s qualifying at the U.S. Open, while fellow Canadian Peter Polansky moved a win away from the men’s main draw.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., cruised past Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze, 6-1, 6-2, on Thursday to close in on a berth in the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

The Canadian had five aces and won 77 per cent of first-serve points while breaking Gorgodze five times.

Gorgodze struggled with her serve, winning 52 of her firstserve points and a woeful 15 per cent of her second-serve points.

Bouchard next faces American Jamie Loeb on Friday.

Polansky, from Thornhill,

Ont., defeated Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Polansky had nine aces to Giraldo’s seven. While he was only accurate on 46 per cent of his first serves, he won 79 per cent of those available points. He also scored on 63 per cent of secondserve points.

A lucky loser entry at this year’s previous three Grand Slams, Polansky will try to win his way into the U.S. Open main draw when he faces American Donald Young on Friday.

Later Thursday, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime faced American Christopher Eubanks in a second-round qualifying match. Montreal’s Françoise Abanda also faced Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round of women’s qualifying, also later Thursday.