Canadian Eugenie Bouchard has continued her winning run at the Hobart International, eliminating Belgian eighth seed Alison Van Uytvanck to move into the quarterfinals.
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist won a tough 6-4 7-5 second round battle.
“(I’m) happy I fought and pulled through, she’s a tough player and can hit some big shots,” Bouchard said. “I felt like my game was a little bit off today, but you know that happens. Some days you’re going to wake up and it’s not going to be great. I’m happy at least that I tried to deal with what I had.”
Bouchard struggled on serve early, with her first serve percentage lingering under 50%. Van Uytvanck was using her variety to her advantage, mixing up powerful baseline play with a noticeable effort to get into the net. It was not allowing Bouchard to find any rhythm in her own game. But a down-the-line forehand winner secured a crucial break for Bouchard in the seventh game. She faced three break points in the next game, but held firm to move ahead 5-3.
Bouchard squandered two set points with forehand errors, but clinched it on the third – taking the first set 6-4 in 52 minutes.
Van Uytvanck left the court after the set, with Bouchard using the opportunity to practice her serve in the swirling windy conditions. But practice wasn’t making perfect for the former world No.5, falling behind an early break in the second set.
“I thought it would maybe help me serve better in the second, but it didn’t help at all,” Bouchard said. “I need to seriously practice it tomorrow.”
Bouchard was getting increasingly frustrated. But just when it looked like the second set was slipping away, Bouchard lifted to win four straight games. Van Uytvanck wasn’t done though – breaking back to level the set at 5-all. Bouchard hten made a pivotal break in the 11th game before serving out the match, closing it out in just over 100 minutes.
“I think I learnt more in today’s match than yesterday’s match,” she said.
“I really had to fight and try stay calm and not to get too negative, so many things go into a match like this that are good to pull out.”
Bouchard drew positives from her fight under pressure.
“You have to control your emotions first of all and still stay in the match, and try to do anything you can to stay in and fight,” she explained. “It’s something I’m always working on because you can never really perfect that.”
Despite the fight, Bouchard was not content with her level.
“Maybe the wind was a little bit of a factor, but it was the same for both of us,” she said. “I just felt my timing was a little bit off, my serve was definitely not there today. At least I pulled through, but I definitely want to be able to play better than that.”
The result sets up a blockbuster quarterfinal with the tournament’s second seed Camila Giorgi of Italy.
The world No.35 was the first into the quarterfinals today with a dominant 6-2 6-3 win over Japan’s Nao Hibino in the opening match on centre court.
“It was a good match, so that helps. Now let’s think about the next one,” Giorgi said.
When asked about her impending showdown with Bouchard, a resolute Giorgi was giving nothing away.
“It’s a match, it doesn’t matter who I play,” she said. “I will be focused on me as always.”
Swede Johanna Larsson is also into the quarterfinals, reeling off the final five games to clinch a hard-fought 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over rising Russian player Margarita Gasparyan.
The match, which lasted exactly two hours, featured multiple momentum swings. Larsson started well, before Gasparyan went on a hot streak. With her impressive one-handed backhand firing winners from all over the court, Gasparyan took the second set and established a 3-1 lead in the third. Yet Larsson’s relentless pressure helped her get back into the match. After a long eighth game, the Swede grabbed a crucial break then served it out to love.
It is Larsson’s best singles result in Hobart, where she is competing for a fourth time and is the reigning doubles champion. Her next opponent will be either fourth seed Monica Niculescu or defending champion Heather Watson. They play their second round match tomorrow.
Larsson teamed up with Kiki Bertens later in the day to start their doubles title defence in style, recording a straight sets win over Alexandra Dulgheru and Chia-Jung Chuang.
In other round one doubles action, top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja survived an early scare to defeat German combination Annika Beck and Carina Witthoeft in three sets. Xinyun Han and Christina McHale also advanced, while Hibino got some consolation from her singles exit through a doubles win with Misaki Doi.
Australian duo Jarmila Wolfe and Kimberly Birrell upset third seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok in the quarterfinals, earning the first semifinal spot.