GENIE ALL ABOUT THE POSITIVES
Germany’s Kerber bounces Bouchard from women’s singles tournament
Through the first 20 minutes or so of her second-round match on centre court Monday afternoon, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard looked like this whole Olympics thing suited her just fine.
The 22-year-old from Westmount, Que., was up 4-1 on Germany’s Angelique Kerber, having broken the serve of the tournament’s No. 2 seed and then following that up with a strong service game of her own in which she didn’t drop a point.
And then it all unravelled. Kerber, 28, ripped off the next seven games in a row, breaking Bouchard three straight times to take the first set and seize control of the match in the second. Bouchard righted herself a little, but not in time to rescue the contest and she fell in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
The reason for the sudden turnaround was simple: Mistakes. Kerber plays a long game, playing shot after shot from the baseline and waiting for her opponent to misfire. Unfortunately for Bouchard, she did that far too often. She made 36 unforced errors in the match to only 19 for Kerber and the difference in the second set was even more pronounced at 20-7. All those missed shots more than made up for the fact Bouchard hit only two fewer winners (22) and served consistently harder. The Canadian had managed her firstround upset of American Sloane Stephens by playing an attacking game with a lot of short points, but on Monday she couldn’t overcome Kerber’s defence.
Afterward, Bouchard opted to take the positives from her loss and looked forward to her next doubles match with Canadian teammate Gabriela Dabrowski, which likely will come Tuesday.
“It’s not over yet for me, so I’m gonna keep my head up,” she said. “But it’s been an amazing experience so far no matter what happens.”
Bouchard also said that in the midst of her comeback season, in which she already has 26 WTA wins after just 12 all of last year, she feels her game is close to where it needs to be to compete regularly against the top players on the women’s tour.
“I don’t think I’m far at all,” she said. “You know, I think the difference is so small between the top players and the rest of the pack. It’s the little one per cent, two per cent here and there that makes the difference. You have to try to take care of everything and she did that a little better than me today, but I know I’m not too far off.”
It may sound a little like the instructions of a sports psychologist, but Bouchard has a point. The women’s tour in 2016 is Serena Williams and then everyone else and Bouchard has already shown she can play with most of the rest of them when she is on her game. She was ranked ahead of Kerber in the summer of 2014, but the German has shown that a run of steady play can turn into a major breakthrough: Four wins last year and then an Australian Open win this season. It’s something of a template for Bouchard: Kerber doesn’t play overpowering tennis, but she is very consistent. If Bouchard could incorporate some of that into her more-aggressive game, she’d be tough to handle.
Unlike Bouchard’s Saturday night match, in which fans were crammed into every nook of tiny Court 3 at the Olympic Tennis Centre, she played before a mostly empty Centre Court Monday despite facing a top seed. Monday was the first instance of weekday events at Rio 2016 and attendance was light at a number of venues. But those that were at the court were enthusiastic.
“People here are much more vocal and not afraid to cheer a little bit, which I love,” Bouchard said. “I think it’s more fun when tennis is like that.”
She also said she had no second thoughts about coming to the Olympics, even though she took some time to make a final decision on it.
“I am very happy that I decided to come to Rio,” Bouchard said. “It’s a little bit different feeling, the feeling that you’re on a team, and the extra support around me this week has just been so nice.”
Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil moved on to the quarter-finals Monday in men’s doubles, beating Portugal’s Gastao Elias and Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4. They face Italy’s Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi Tuesday.
As for one of Bouchard’s stated Olympic goals, meeting American swimmer Michael Phelps?
“No,” she said. “I just saw him one time and I was too shy.”
No medal there either.