Crowd favourite Eugenie Bouchard has continued her winning run at the Hobart International with a straight sets demolition of second seed Camila Giorgi.
Bouchard defeated the Italian 6-3 6-2 in 68 minutes on centre court tonight.
Inclement weather throughout the day delayed the start of the match, with players not taking to the court until after 10pm local time. Earlier in the day Bouchard was even helping tournament officials dry the courts in a bid to get on the court.
The Canadian made her intentions clear early, coming out aggressive and racing to a 3-0 lead. There was some impressive ball-striking from both players, but Giorgi never recovered from the early deficit as Bouchard took the first set 6-3.
The world No.35 Giorgi, the highest ranked player in the draw, started the second set strongly with a break but couldn’t maintain the advantage. Bouchard claimed the next four games to take control of the match. From there Bouchard maintained her lead and served it out 6-2.
“I’m happy I was able to have a lot of energy considering how long we waited today,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard took positives from her win.
“I just wanted to put her under pressure as much as possible,” she said of her game plan.
“She’s had great wins in the past, she can definitely play a really good game. It was definitely a solid win for me tonight.”
Bouchard said staying mentally prepared for the match during the rain delays was one of the toughest challenges.
“I try not to think too much about it (the match). I don’t want to play the match five times over in my head before I actually step out onto the court,” she said. “But it’s the same for both players so I can’t really complain, that is the way tennis is. You can’t compete against mother nature.”
Bouchard now plays third seed Dominika Cibulkova, the 2014 Australian Open finalist, in the semifinal.
> Read about Cibulkova’s quarterfinal win
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist won her only previous match against Cibulkova, an epic three-set third round clash at the 2015 US Open.
“(It was) my best match of last year I would say,” Bouchard recalled of that match.
“I’m just looking forward to a great match, a great fight. She’s a big competitor out there and I don’t know what will happen, but I’ll try and enjoy it.”
> Order of play for semifinal day
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