Eugenie Bouchard looked back to her clinical best in a masterclass of a performance in her opener at the 2016 Hobart International, dismantling old foe Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2, 6-1 in 57 minutes. Bouchard will now play seventh seed Alison Van Uytvanck, who defeated Carina Witthoeft in straight sets on Sunday afternoon.
Bouchard Flies Through Opening Set
Right from the off, Bouchard's intentions were very clear. Against an aggressive player like Mattek-Sands, she was keen to get the first strike in order to avoid being on the defensive, something she did too much of in her previous two meetings with the American. Breaking straight away with some aggressive hitting from the ground, the Canadian followed it up with a solid hold to 15 which really set the tone for this encounter. From there, the pair exchanged breaks of serve before Mattek-Sands earned herself an all-important hold to reduce Bouchard's double break advantage from 3-0 to 3-2. However, unfazed by her opponent's fightback, the Canadian answered with a hold of her own, which was quickly followed by yet another break of serve. In the windy conditions, Mattek-Sands struggled to control a her high ball toss and to make matters worse, Bouchard wasn't doing her anything favours. Bouchard, however, served well which is a clear indication of how high her confidence level is after a horrendous 2015 season. As a result, she would go on to serve out the opening set 6-2 in half an hour.
More of the Same from Bouchard in Set Two
Picking up right where she left off in the early stages of the second set, Bouchard continued to strike the ball very cleanly, putting Mattek-Sands on the defensive right from the return, consequently resulting in yet another break of serve to open the set. From there, the Canadian didn't look back. Shortly after consolidating the break, Bouchard broke in emphatic style once more - she was on a mission. After exchanging a pair of holds, Bouchard put her foot on the accelerator, working her way through the sixth game before holding to open up a sizeable 6-2, 5-1 lead. Unable to mount any sort of resistance, Mattek-Sands crumbled while serving to stay in the match while Bouchard cruised to victory, sealing a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory with a big cross-court forehand winner - one of the many keys to her victory today.
"I didn't feel [I hit] that clean - it's a little windy so it's tricky for both of us but I'm just happy that I stayed tough," Bouchard said in her on-court post-match interview. "Bethanie is amazing at the net so I always had to be ready when she came forward, you know, I just tried to hit it as hard as I could and hope for the best."
In Australia, Bouchard has always received great support from her loyal and loving fans, which was also where the original Genie Army was originated. Even though the original army won't be in Hobart this week, it is safe to say that they will have quite a few representatives in the crowd who will be cheering the 22-year-old on every step of the way.
"It's awesome," Bouchard said when asked about the fan support she received against Mattek-Sands today. "I think I see a couple of maple leafs in the crowd, and a little bit of Canadian spirit so I appreciate that."
A Look at the Final Match Statistics
En route to her victory, Bouchard broke six times, maintained a solid 65% first serve percentage, won 71% of her first serve points and an impressive 60% of her second serve points - one of the areas she worked on the most during the off-season. On the other side of the spectrum, Mattek-Sands was not as impressive. Winning only 41% of her first serve points and 30% of those behind her second serve, the American struggled with finding consistency on her own serve, and only broke once in four attempts.