Eugenie Bouchard’s return to the Hobart International has been short-lived, knocked out in the first round by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
A big-hitting Sabalenka overpowered the former world No.5 and Hobart International 2016 finalist, winning 6-4 6-3.
“She has a powerful game, so it’s hard to get rhythm,” Bouchard conceded. “It’s either a winner or an error, it’s first-strike tennis.
“At the beginning I was a little bit slow but I feel like I got into it, then just lost a few key points in the second.
“It’s not where I want to be, but I’ll just take away another match, another learning process and just keep going.”
.@SabalenkaA kicks off @HobartTennis campaign with 6-4, 6-3 win over Bouchard! pic.twitter.com/viqsIcVMkQ
— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2018
Bouchard struggled on serve, only holding three times in the 76-minute match and serving 12 double faults.
“I felt like I double faulted a lot, which is a bit unusual for me,” she said. “I was getting pretty frustrated with that.”
Sabalenka plays top seed Zhang Shuai of China in the second round.
Zhang fought back from a slow start to defeat Poland’s Magda Linette 7-5 6-3.