Eugenie Bouchard wins her first game since Wimbledon at Connecticut Open
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada returns to Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia during their first round match of the Connecticut Open. (Photo: AFP)
New Haven (USA): Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard got off to a sizzling start Monday at the WTA Tour’s Connecticut Open tournament, a final US Open tune-up.
The third-seeded Canadian star thrashed Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 6-1 in 52 minutes on the hardcourts at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University.
The win ended a three match losing streak for world number eight Bouchard.
“I was happy I was able to keep my level up the whole match and get my first win since Wimbledon,” Bouchard said.
“I want to keep the momentum going,” she added.
Bouchard next faces 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur, who held off Japan’s Kurumi Nara 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (10/12), 6-2.
Bouchard won the first seven points of the match en route to compiling a 5-0 first set lead. She also won the first five games of the second set. Bouchard broke serve six times and saved five of six break points on her own serve.
Bouchard said she is struggling with her health. “I really haven’t been healthy since Wimbledon. It’s been a little bit of a struggle. But I’m glad I’ve been able to play through it, and hopefully I’ll get some matches in this week,” Bouchard said.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza upset seventh-seeded former French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Simona Halep beat 2012 titlist Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in last year’s final. Halep is the top seed and Kvitova is seeded second.
Halep begins her tournament with a match against Rybarikova.
Wozniacki advances to next round
Caroline Wozniacki came back to defeat Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 Monday in the first round at the Connecticut Open.
A four-time champion of the New Haven tournament, the fourth-seeded Wozniacki lost the first three games of the match against Bacsinszky, a qualifier. Wozniacki battled back to even the set at 4-4. But Bacsinszky got a break of serve in the next game, and then closed out the set by scoring on a drop shot.
“I have to give her credit, she started out well,” Wozniacki said.
“She got some matches under her belt playing qualifiers, and that helped her. I felt pretty good out theress0. It just took a while to get started,” she added.
There were several long rallies in the final two sets before Wozniacki prevailed. It was 2-2 in the third set before Wozniacki won the final four games. “It took me a few games to get used to new balls and a faster court,” Wozniacki said.
“But I felt like I was getting stronger as the match went on. My confidence was high. I was in a great place mentally,” she added.
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia lost 7-6 (2), 6-3 to Andrea Petkovic of Germany. Seventh-seeded Sara Errani of Italy was eliminated by Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. It was the third loss in the last four matches for Errani, who has been knocked out in the first round in two of her last three tournaments.
Muguruza lost in straight sets to Errani at the 2012 U.S. Open in their only other meeting. Samantha Stosur of Australia earned a 7-6 (8), 6-7 (10), 6-2 victory over Kurumi Nara of Japan.
Stosur, who won the U.S. Open in 2011, blew three match points in the second set tiebreaker and let another match point get away before winning on her fifth chance.
Stosur was given a wild card into the Connecticut Open. Qualifier Shuai Pen of China beat Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-4, 6-3, and Barbora Strycova Zahlavova of the defeated qualifier Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Unseeded Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain withdrew from the tournament.
Next Story
