Bouchard bests Venus Williams
‘Mentally strong’ Canadian advances at Family Circle Cup
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Venus Williams couldn’t dig herself out of a hole this time and lost to Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 at the Family Circle Cup on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Williams had fought back in each of her first two matches to advance. She seemed to follow the same game-plan in this one, rallying from a set down to win the second set and lead 2-1 in the third.
That’s when the 20-year-old Canadian, took over, breaking Williams’ serve twice down the stretch including the final game.
“I think I’ve shown to myself how mentally strong I can be,” said Bouchard, seeded sixth at the Family Circle. “Today was really a mental battle. It was a bit ugly at times and tough on the court, but I fought through it.”
Bouchard finished things off by reaching Williams’ drop shot and pushing it into the open court for her first victory over the seven-time Grand Slam champion.
“She played a lot more consistently than I did,” Williams said. “I think my errors really hurt me a lot today. Just a lot of up and down, a lot of errors.”
Especially in two key stretches when it looked as if the 33-year-old Williams was ready to take control.
Bouchard was ahead 5-3 in the opening set when Williams rallied and held two set points in the tiebreaker. But Bouchard won the next four points, including a crisp backhand for a winner to secure the set.
When Williams moved on top in the third set, Bouchard did not panic but dug in to move on to her third quarterfinal round this year.
“I’ve just kind of raised my game a little bit and was extra solid on those important points,” Bouchard said.
The loss ends a run of success for the Williams family on the courts here. Sister Serena was the two-time defending tournament champion before losing Tuesday night. Venus played with the Washington Kastles on the green clay to win the 2012 World Team Tennis title.
Venus Williams had been bothered by an illness that she said limited her endurance this week. She had to come from behind in her first two matches here to face Bouchard and did not have enough stamina to wait out her opponent’s solid, flat ground strokes.
“That kind of made it more challenging. I mean I think normally I would probably be able to challenge the points a little bit longer and just make her play more shots and just be more willing to play longer points,” Williams said.
Williams was the 2004 Family Circle champion. She reached the semifinals here last year where she lost to sister Serena, the eventual champion.
Bouchard will await the winner of No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic and Ajla Tomljanovic in Friday’s quarterfinals. Jankovic, at eighth in the world, is the top player remaining.