Bouchard makes short work of Cibulkova

MONTREAL— Canadian Eugenie Bouchard continued her run at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday.

For the second day in a row, Bouchard upset a higher-ranked opponent as she defeated top-10 player Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and 14 minutes.

Cibulkova is 10th in the WTA rankings while Bouchard is 42nd.

The Westmount, Que., native is through to the third round at the Rogers Cup for the first time in her career.

In the opening round on Tuesday, Bouchard surprised the hometown fans by getting the better of 28thranked Lucie Safarova.

Playing some of her best tennis in months, the 22-year-old made quick work of Cibulkova in the 36-minute first set, twice breaking her opponent’s serve.

Bouchard was aggressive and dictated play, while Cibulkova struggled with her service game and accumu- lated unforced errors. Playing with confidence, Bouchard was even more dominant in a second set marked by several lengthy rallies.

Fans rose to their feet on two occasions in the set, namely after Bouchard returned two improbable balls in the fifth game to break Cibulkova and go up 5-0.

Bouchard will now face 121st-ranked qualifier Kristina Kucova, who stunned eighth-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Bouchard is the only Canadian on the women’s side remaining after Francoise Abanda was eliminated earlier on Wednesday.

Abanda lost her second-round match 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

After earning a bye in the first round, sixth-ranked Venus Williams breezed through. She dominated her opponent Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-0, needing just 58 minutes.