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By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, August 26, 2014

 
Eugenie Bouchard

Eugenie Bouchard was clinical in her first-round thumping of Olga Govortsova on Day 2. Next up? Sorana Cirstea.

Photo Source: Reuters

It has been a rough summer for Canada’s sensation Eugenie Bouchard. After reaching the Wimbledon final, she has gone into a bit of a tailspin on the North American hard courts, going 1-3 in Montreal, Cincinnati and New Haven, but Bouchard appears to be hitting the ground running in New York after her 6-2, 6-1 victory over Olga Govortsova on Tuesday.

Exclusive: Eugenie Bouchard Talks Racquets with Tennis Now

“I love playing the Grand Slams and I want to raise my level in the big matches and on the big stages,” Bouchard said after the match. “The US Open—it’s the biggest stage.”

In her second appearance at the US Open, Bouchard is enjoying her first ever top-eight seed at a Grand Slam. She became Canada’s first ever Grand Slam finalist at Wimbledon in early July, but since then she has struggled to find her game under the weight of massive expectations and media attention.

The No. 7 seed started slowly on Louis Armstrong Stadium today, needing to save two break points to hold for a 3-2 lead in the opener. But that bit of clutch tennis appeared to calm her nerves. She would reel off seven consecutive games to lead 3-0 in set two, and her momentum would stop only briefly when Govortsova held for 3-1.

Bouchard, who clocked 19 winners against 10 unforced errors, saved all three break points she faced and won the final three games of the match to set up a second-round encounter with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

The 20-year-old Canadian is the only player—male or female—to have reached the last four of all three Grand Slams this season. Though not many feel she is ready to win in New York, especially given her results post-Wimbledon, Bouchard is in a relatively soft section of the lower half of the draw with a good chance to keep her Grand Slam semifinal streak going.

If the seeds hold she could face the dangerous but inconsistent Dominika Cibulkova in the round of 16 and would battle with Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals.

 

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