She survived several break points and won the set.
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“It’s for sure a step in the right direction”, Bouchard told reporters.
She came onto Centre Court at Aviva Centre in red and white to cheers from a bunch in the all-familiar Genie’s Army, decked in white t-shirts spelling out G-E-N-I-E.
“I feel like I can be close to performing well on the court, and it’s just been a long, patient kind of battle, and I feel like I’m close to turning it around”.
Bouchard showed plenty of heart against Bencic – she could easily have thrown in the towel after being shut out in the first set – but clearly the 21-year-old from Westmount, Que., is missing something important from her game. While that was a stunning defeat on the heels of her finals appearance at Wimbledon, this loss followed a year-long trend. The 20th-ranked player in the world praised Bouchard for how she responded in the second set.
She even had 0-30 on Bencic’s service game in the next game – but Bencic wasn’t done yet.
Bencic had the edge nearing the end of the match but aside from the numbers, Bouchard’s unending losing streak was the major factor of her advancement into the second round.
Even before Tuesday’s order of play was complete, organizers had already placed Bouchard into the high-visibility 7 p.m. time slot.
However, Bouchard managed back to win the second set, despite being down 5-3.
Despite the disappointing run, Bouchard was eager to salvage something positive from her evening’s work, latching onto the fact she was able to overcome a listless opening set to win the second and force the match to a decider.
So, her slide has certainly coincided with Sumyk’s appointment as coach, but is the Frenchman exclusively responsible for Bouchard’s woes?
Now it’s onto Cincinnati for Bouchard, who remains optimistic things will get turned around very soon. “I was in a completely different situation last year compared to this year”.
“I was fighting on every single point”, she said.
But she was a different player in the second set.
Francoise Abanda of Montreal lost to 16th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 3-6, 6-4-6-2, and Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-1, 6-1 to American Madison Brengle.
Tuesday at the Rogers Cup, she nearly topped that career-best win, her first in the Fed Cup. She was going for broke in that game but still made intelligent decisions when picking her shots.
“Yeah, I mean, it was a good experience,”Abanda said”.
Tournament organizers said the Russian, who has not played since Wimbledon where she lost to World No. 1 Serena Williams, is suffering from a right leg strain. These last six months, she says, haven’t been easy. “My goals are to be healthy, to perform well during the matches, and that’s really it. You know, I don’t have any expectations besides that”.
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In the end, it’s nothing more than another loss in Abanda’s ledger but one she can certainly gain to learn from.
