Another embarrassing early exit for Bouchard
miami — Eugenie Bouchard’s poor run of form continued on Wednesday as the Canadian suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty at the Miami Open.
Wildcard Barty’s 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win sets up an all-Australian clash in the second round of the WTA hardcourt event against 14th seed Samantha Stosur.
But for the 23-year-old Bouchard, a former world number five who has slumped to 56th in the rankings, it was another blow after her first-round exit in Indian Wells.
“It has been a bit of a struggle,” said a stone-faced Bouchard, who was unable to account for her loss of form. Bouchard was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon in 2014 but, apart from a run to the semifinal at Sydney where she was beaten by Britain’s Johanna Konta, she has been unable to make an impact this year.
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic was another high-profile early exit, the 2008 Miami finalist falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.
Local favorite and Rio Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig was comfortably dealt with 6-2, 6-4 by Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
Britain’s Heather Watson, who reached the fourth round in Miami last year, was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 by Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig.
Meanwhile, young American Ernesto Escobedo pulled off a surprise victory in three sets over Britain’s Dan Evans in the men’s first round. The 20-year-old Mexican-American, who grew up playing on rough public courts in Los Angeles, is playing in his Masters 1000 series event having qualified with a straight sets win over Argentine Renzo Olivo on Tuesday.
Escobedo, ranked 108th, beat the 43rd ranked Evans 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 at Crandon Park thanks mainly to his strong first serve, which included 10 aces.
Escobedo will now face 25thseed Fernando Verdasco in the second round and he can expect plenty of support from a strongly Hispanic South Florida crowd. —