Canadian Bouchard cruises into second round
MELBOURNE, Australia — Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard rolled into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday, downing wild card Shuai Peng 6-2, 6-1 in under an hour.
The 24-year-old Bouchard came out firing, winning the first set in just 28 minutes. The match lasted 59 minutes total.
The 33-year-old Peng showed some life in the second set, breaking Bouchard’s serve down 3-0, but the Westmount, Que., native broke right back when Peng sailed a backhand shot wide.
Peng saved one match point on her serve but a backhand wide gave the Canadian another, and Bouchard clinched with a forehand to the open court.
Bouchard, a former World No. 5, entered the Australian Open ranked No. 79.
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist, who also made the Australian Open and French Open semifinals in a breakthrough 2014, will be severely tested in her secondround match Thursday when she plays 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams. Peng is No. 129. Late Monday, Mississauga, Ont., teenager Bianca Andreescu played the first Australian Open main-draw match of her career, taking on 16-year-old American wild card Whitney Osuigwe.
It was quite a return for Williams. Almost as if she never left.
In her first match at the Australian Open since winning the 2017 title while pregnant — and her first official match anywhere since a loss in the chaotic U.S. Open final last September — Williams looked to be at her dominant best, overpowering Tatjana Maria 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.
“I kind of like to jump in the deep end and swim,” Williams said in an on-court interview after the 49-minute workout, “and see what happens.”
She hadn’t dipped her toe in Grand Slam waters since New York, where everything devolved after Williams was warned for getting coaching, then docked a point for breaking a racket and eventually docked a game for calling the chair umpire “a thief” during the final.
When that match was mentioned by a reporter during Williams’ news conference Tuesday, as part of a question about whether coaching should be allowed during matches at majors, she replied, “I, like, literally have no comment.”
Truth be told, the match against Maria was not much of a test for Williams, given that the 74th-ranked German entered with an 11-15 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments, only once has made it as far as the third round at any major and owns a total of one career WTA title after a dozen years on the tour.
Williams, meanwhile, is pursuing an eighth title in Melbourne and 24th Slam trophy overall, which would equal Margaret Court — whose career spanned the amateur and professional eras — for the most in tennis history.
“I have been going for the record [for] what seems like forever now,” the 37-year-old Williams said, “so it doesn’t feel any different.” How lopsided was this? Williams needed all of 18 minutes to wrap up the first set, ceding just five of 29 points along the way.
The American, a former No. 1 who is seeded 16th on account of playing only 24 matches in 2018, never faced a single break point and compiled a 22-7 edge in winners.
“Maybe,” Maria said afterward, “I was a little bit overwhelmed.”