Bouchard wins two on the trot at Eastbourne
Tuesday marked two wins in as many days for Eugenie Bouchard, who is turning a few heads ahead of Wimbledon in Eastbourne, England.
Bouchard beat Irina-Camelia Begu (ranked 27th in the WTA tour) of Romania 6-3, 6-1 in a decisive result that took less than an hour in the second round of the international tournament taking place south of London.
The 48th ranked Canadian won four service breaks from Begu (three in the second set), while holding her serve throughout the contest. This type of performance will continue to raise hope for Bouchard’s return to top form that saw her rise to world no. 5 in the WTA rankings back in October of 2014.
In her two matches in Eastbourne, 22-year-old Bouchard has yet to drop a set, seeing off American Varvara Lepchenko in a similar manner on Monday (more on this below). Her next opponent in Eastbourne is likely to be top seed and world no. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Other Canadians expected to see action this week on grass are Vasek Pospisil and Frank Dancevic (singles – Nottingham Open); Gabriela Dabrowski (doubles – Eastbourne International); Daniel Nestor and Adil Shamasdin with their respective doubles partners in Nottingham.
Monday, June 20
Eugenie Bouchard returns a shot against Varvara Lepchenko at the Eastbourne International on June 20, 2016.
With Wimbledon around the corner, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard got off to a winning start at Eastbourne in England on Monday.
A 6-1, 6-2 win over American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko has set up a second round women’s singles tie against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania on Tuesday in the grass court tournament near the seaside town of Brighton.
Bouchard broke Lepchenko five times and lost serve just once in the match.
This is the Canadian’s third grass court tourney ahead of Wimbledon. She was ousted in the first round in the Netherlands earlier this month, but last week rebounded to beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in Mallorca, Spain, before Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia bested her in the second round.
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Bouchard was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2014 and continues to be a crowd favourite with many – most of all her self-proclaimed Genie Army fan club – hoping she can regain the form from two years ago that abandoned her last season.
Also competing in Eastbourne – though in women’s doubles – is Gabriela Dabrowski, who is coming off a WTA title in Mallorca and a final appearance in back-to-back weeks.
