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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 10, 2017

The confidence gained from battling past Maria Sharapova in three sets on Monday in Madrid appears to be wind beneath the wings of Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. The World No.60 rolled past an ailing Angelique Kerber on Wednesday, 6-3, 5-0, RET to book her first ever Premier Mandatory quarterfinal.

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“For sure that [win over Sharapova] gave me confidence,” Bouchard, who has now won three in a row for the first time since January, said. “My first-round win [over Alizé Cornet] gave me confidence. Feeling a bit better in practice coming into this week gave me confidence coming in.”

If you’re wondering what Premier Mandatory means, we’ve got you covered. It’s a WTA-created designation, which lists four tournaments—Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing—all by itself at the top of the non-Grand Slam events calendar.

Other similarly prestigious events—Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Canada, Wuhan—offer less prize money and are designated “Premier 5.”

It’s a bit of an obscure accomplishment for Bouchard, but a solid step in the right direction for the Canadian nonetheless. Her best results have come in majors, and she’s long had trouble at the smaller events on tour, so any success at a prestigious event like the Mutua Madrid Open can only be taken as a good sign.

Bouchard improved to 8-8 on the season and 2-1 against the Top 10 with the win. She improved to 4-2 lifetime against Kerber, who had to retire while a game away from defeat with a left thigh injury. Kerber drops to 19-11 on the season but the German did assure herself a return to the top of the WTA rankings next week by winning two rounds at Madrid.

She will hold that No.1 rank, but has not been in possession of the form that accompanied her rise to the top of tennis in 2016 this season.

Kerber has gone 6-10 against the WTA’s Top 50 and 0-7 against the Top 20. She did not seem to think her injury was too serious, but would not commit to making an appearance at Rome next week.

“I don't know what's exactly,” she said. “I know it's the left hamstring. I just felt it in the last game. … I think now I will just check it. I will check it maybe tonight or tomorrow. I will see. I hope it's not too serious. But, yeah, I can feel it a little bit.”

Bouchard will face Kuznetsova next. The 31-year-old defeated China’s Wang Qiang, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals at Madrid for the second time in three years.

Kuznetsova leads Bouchard 2-0 in their lifetime head-to-head, but they have not met since 2014.

In other round of 16 action on Wednesday, No.3-seeded Simona Halep moved past No.16-seeded Sam Stosur, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Defending champion Halep says she likes the conditions at Madrid more than most tournaments.

“I like the altitude here,” she said. “I feel that I have more power. I feel that I can control the game, even if it's altitude. I use more spin for this tournament.”

Halep will square off with American CoCo Vandeweghe in the quarterfinals. The California native worked past Carla Suarez Navarro in three, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

No.14-seeded Kristina Mladenovic moved past Oceane Dodin, 6-2, 6-1, to set up a quarterfinal with Sorana Cirstea, while Kiki Bertens and Anastasija each progressed to set up the final quarterfinal on the lower half.

 

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