Bouchard battles back to make second round
Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard is through to the second round of the French Open after posting a comeback 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Japan’s Risa Ozaki on Tuesday.
Bouchard, a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2014, came back from a disastrous first set by dominating the next two. The 23-yearold was particularly strong in the third when she fired three aces, broke Ozaki on two of four attempts and held the final game to love.
The Canadian had fallen into a hole after a first set in which she committed 24 unforced errors and saved just one of the four break points she faced.
Bouchard next faces 17th-seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Bouchard and Sevastova faced each other twice last year, with each player coming away with a win. Their second-round match in Paris will be their first ever meeting on clay.
In other action, No. 3 seed Simona Halep beat Jana Cepelova 6-2, 6-3 in just 67 minutes.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Andy Murray is through to the men’s second round after beating Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Murray, who was runner-up at Roland Garros last year, has been struggling in 2017 and looked uncomfortable at times during the second set. But the world No. 1 got into his stride and saw out the final set in just 27 minutes, sealing the match with a forehand down the line after winning eight successive games.
“Last year was a great year for me. You know, it was the best I ever played,” Murray said. “Here, at the beginning of my career, I struggled. But each year I kept coming back and was trying a little bit better and last year was really good.
“And last year during (the Paris Masters in) Bercy, that’s when I reached No. 1 for first time, so I’ve got very good memories from Paris last year, and I’ll try and have another good one this year.”
No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka beat Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
“I enjoyed it very much,” said Wawrinka, who won at Roland Garros in 2015. “It was not necessarily easy after I played in Geneva until Saturday to get into gear. I’m feeling good, I’m playing good tennis and I’m happy to be back in Paris.”