Talk about night and day. After struggling to find her way in nearly every one of her post-Wimbledon matches, Eugenie Bouchard was back to her usual dominating self. The young Canadian needed all of fifty-nine minutes to dispose of Olga Govortsova (6-2, 6-1) on her way to an easy first round win at the 2014 US Open

Heading into New York there were certainly more than a few whispers on just how tired and/or injured the fan favourite was but she passed her opening test with flying colours. The passive style of play which had crept into her game over the last month or so was suddenly replaced by the aggressive play that has become a trademark for the No. 7 seed.

The bounce that has been missing from Bouhard’s step since her surprising loss at the Rogers Cup, finally made its long awaited return on Tuesday afternoon and it was simply too much for Govortsova to handle. The groundstrokes that were lacking any sort of zip or real depth were a thing of the past.

The twenty-year-old was pounding balls from all over the court and from both wings to boot. Shot after shot she was either clipping lines or dropping balls just inside it and all the while looking to move forward and be the aggressor. It was an impressive to say the least and this writer’s guess is the rest of the field took notice.

Bouchard has managed to make a name for herself by taking her game to another level in the previous three Grand Slam events and apparently she seems set on making it perfect four out of four. While you never want make too much out of a win in the first round of major, this one could prove to be rather important. There is no question her most recent results left her rattled but it looks as though she has righted the ship and just in time for one of the game’s biggest stages.

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About the author
Rob Soria
Rob covers the ATP Tour and Toronto Blue Jays for VAVEL USA