Bouchard in spotlight after Muguruza’s exit
French Open champion pulls out of Montreal with stomach illness
Home-grown hero Eugenie Bouchard reached the second round of the WTA hardcourt tournament in Montreal with a dramatic three-set victory on Tuesday, lending a little star power as the event lost French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.
In her past two appearances at her home event, Bouchard had failed to win a match. But this time she gave fans what they wanted to see with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Czech Lucie Safarova. After dominating the first set, she made a sluggish start to the second and Safarova took advantage to force a third frame.
Bouchard was unable to convert three match points at 6-5 in the third but, after Safarova forced the tiebreaker, the Canadian roared back from a 3-1 deficit to seize the victory.
“The crowd was incredible,” said Bouchard, who begged off a longer post-match press conference pleading a stomach ache. That was after Spain’s Muguruza, the world No. 3 and third seed, pulled out of her opening match complaining of gastrointestinal illness minutes before she was to take on Britain’s Naomi Broady. It was another highprofile defection after world No. 1 Serena Williams withdrew with inflammation in her shoulder over the weekend.
“I’m pretty disappointed, I practised a lot for this tournament,” Muguruza said. “Since yesterday, I have kind of been feeling weird and I spoke with the doctor and everything. I thought today I was going to feel better, but in the last moment I didn’t feel good enough to go on court and give my best.”
Although it was a secondround
Toronto ATP Masters hardcourt on Tuesday (x-denotes seeded player): Second round:
Tomas Berdych (CZE x5) bt Borna Coric (CRO) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x2) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8).
Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Benont Paire (FRA x14) 6-1, 6-3; Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Alexander Zverev (GER) 7-5, 6-3; Jared Donaldson (USA) bt John Millman (AUS) 6-4, 4-3 retired; Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Steve Johnson (USA x15) 6-4, 6-4; Gael Monfils (FRA x10) bt Joao Sousa (POR) 6-3, 6-3; Vasek Pospisil (CAN) bt Jirimy Chardy (FRA) 7-6 (7/3), retired; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-7 (9/11), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2; Lucas Pouille (FRA x13) bt Emilio Gomez (ECU) 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 7-5; Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-4, 6-2; Dennis Novikov (USA) bt Federico Del Bonis (ARG) 6-4, 6-3; Donald Young (USA) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4
First round: WTA hardcourt in Montreal: Second round:
Simona Halep (ROM x5) bt Daria Gavrilova (AUS) 6-2, 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko (USA) bt Naomi Broady (GBR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Vania King (USA) bt Tmmea Babos (HUN) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5); Johanna Konta (GBR x15) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x11) bt Mariana Duque (COL) 6-2, 6-2; Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3); Kristmna Kucova (SVK) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Monica Niculescu (ROM) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Christina McHale (USA) bt Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-2, 3-0 retired; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x16) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5; Madison Keys (USA x10) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-4, 6-0; Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3; Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 7-6 (7/1), 6-3; Karolina Pliskova (CZE x14) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5; Sara Errani (ITA) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Darya Kasatkina (RUS) bt Misaki Doi (JPN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Francoise Abanda (CAN) bt Zheng Saisai (CHN) 6-1, 7-5.
First round:
match, Muguruza enjoyed a first-round bye. Organisers filled her place in the draw with lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko of the United States, who defeated Broady 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. In the only other secondround match of the day, fifthseeded Romanian Simona Halep defeated Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-2, 6-3.
Halep and Gavrilova had split their last two meetings. But Halep, coming off her second title of the season at home in Bucharest, was in control throughout, never facing a break point in the first set and shaking off an early tremor in the second to win in 86 minutes. “She’s a very strong player,” Halep, a former French Open champion, said. “I played her on the clay courts in Rome, she beat me there, and I knew how to play today.”