By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, September 4, 2015
Genie Bouchard saved five set points and fought off 12 of 16 break points defeating Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3 to reach the US Open fourth round.
Photo credit: US Open/USTA
NEW YORK—Renovations to Arthur Ashe Stadium aren't the only signs of major remodeling going on at this US Open.
Sledge-hammering the self-doubt that's boxed her in this season, Genie Bouchard continues her career reconstruction.
Prowling the baseline to take the ball on the rise, Bouchard fought off five set points in the first set battling past Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3 in a gritty two hour, 48-minute skirmish. The victory sends Bouchard into the Flushing Meadows fourth round for the second straight year.
It is her first fourth-round appearance since Indian Wells in March.
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"When I watch the replay, I'll have a heart attack watching those set points," Bouchard joked afterward. "I don't know what happened. She's such a tough competitor. She's there fighting for every point. I'm so proud of myself, how hard I fought. It's huge. I love the US Open."
A brittle Bouchard arrived in New York fresh off her 10th opening-round exit of the year after absorbing her worst beating of the season in New Haven, a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci.
She spent practice week before this US Open training with five-time Flushing Meadows champion Jimmy Connors. Bouchard says the Hall of Famer focused on bolstering her self-belief rather than refining her technique. Had Connors been among the raucous supporters in Louis Armstrong Stadium today, he would have heard one fan yell his trademark phrase: "This is what they came for, this is what they wanted!" celebrating the stubborn stand his charge made in the first-set tie break.
"I think my loss (in New Haven) was kind of a shock to me, a little bit of a wake-up call in a sense I had to get my act together a little bit," Bouchard said. "And then working this week with Jimmy, as well, has really given me a different side of things, like a different point of view. He's very energetic. He's kind of lifted my spirits a little bit. He believes in me. He helped me kind of believe in myself more and regain that confidence. So, yeah, I think that's helped me as well."
Like Connors, Bouchard is at her best straddling the baseline taking the ball on the rise and playing with aggression. Unlike Connors, who played old-school straight take back strokes, Bouchard's forehand is built on a loopier backswing. Her game is predicated on timing the ball, which can be a major challenge when self-belief has evaporated like sweat on a scorching day.
In a battle of former Grand Slam finalists, Bouchard saved 12 of 16 break points she faced and played bold tennis at crunch time.
Facing a fourth set point in the tie break, she stepped in and pounded a forehand return winner down the line leveling the tie break. She staved off the fifth set point with a smooth backhand volley winner. Quick off the mark, Bouchard ran down a dropper and shoveled her reply up the line for her second set point. Driving a return with such pace Bouchard sent Cibulkova toppling to the court as she snatched the 71-minute opener.
Cibulkova deconstructed former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the first round and rallied from a break down in the second set today. At 30-40 Bouchard slapped forehand into net as Cibulkova scored her second straight break for 4-3 lead. Angling off a drop shot for 5-3—her fourth straight game—the sturdy Slovak was growing in confidence, stepping into the court and increasingly controlling play with her forehand. Bouchard finally slowed her opponent's roll, squeezing a service winner down the T to hold for 4-5.
Cibulkova is so vertically challenged she looks like she could play mixed doubles with the Muppets. Don't let Dominika's diminutive stature fool you. Cibulkova is not a counter-puncher. She's an aggressive baseliner who can crack the forehand and gobbles up pace and spits back deep drives especially off her compact forehand. Working through a deuce game, Cibulkova held to snatch the 51-minute second set and force the decider.
The pair traded breaks to open the final set.
In a grueling seven-deuce game that dragged on more than 11 minutes, Bouchard stuck successive forehand drives into the corner. Cibulkova found the net with a backhand to drop serve and fall behind 1-3. She wound up as if prepared to splatter her optic yellow Dunlop to the court, but showed restraint pulling back.
That skirmish seemed to loosen up the Canadian, who was swinging more freely surging out to a 40-0 lead. Bouchard snapped her fifth ace extending her lead to 4-1. Serving with more authority as the set progressed, Bouchard issued a love hold for 5-2.
Jumping into a forehand return, Cibulkova screamed in frustration when the shot died in net giving Bouchard double match point. On her second match point, the 25th-seeded Canadian hammered a serve into the hip and erupted in a primal scream as Cibulkova's final shot died in the net.
The 2014 Wimbledon runner-up will play the veteran Vinci, the woman who humbled her in New Haven, for a spot in her second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the season. But first, she has more work to do partnering Nick Kyrgios in mixed doubles on Court 17.