After a disappointing first round loss in Brisbane, Eugenie Bouchard decided to take a wildcard at the Apia International Sydney. In the first round, she had to face last year’s Australian Open quarterfinalist, Shuai Zhang. From the first moment, it was Bouchard who got the initiative and the first one to break but the Chinese staged a great comeback to force the first set to a tiebreak. After dominating the tiebreak, Bouchard took entire control of the match to finish the second set and the match. Eugenie Bouchard booked her place in the second round after a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory.
Zhang breaks at a crucial moment to decide opening set in a tiebreak
The Canadian started with three games points, but two unforced errors put some pressure on her serve but Bouchard took the last game point and went up 1-0. It was the Chinese who struggled with her serve as she quickly faced two break points but a great serve and forehand winner erased those break points. Bouchard forced to one more deuce but Zhang managed to get through and hold to equalize at 1-1. The Canadian had another easy hold to 15 to keep the small lead at 2-1. Zhang had another erratic game, giving Bouchard a third break point and this time the Canadian didn’t hesitate to take it after hitting a backhand passing shot to lead 3-1.
Despite being ahead, Bouchard was hardly doing anything to win points as her opponent continuous unforced errors were the reason why she was up a break. The Canadian blew up a 40-15 lead, first with a double fault and then with a forehand unforced error but another mistake from Zhang gave her another chance to consolidate the break. A good serve and a wide return from the Chinese extended Bouchard’s lead to 4-1. After having a conversation with her coach, Zhang started with a 30-0 lead on her serve but Bouchard stroke back to get another break point. The Chinese’s serve was saved after a failed return by the Canadian, followed by an ace and a backhand winner to take the game.
After another sharp hold from Bouchard, it was on Zhang to hold to stay in the set and have one more chance at breaking the Canadian and get back into the set. Zhang held to love, for the first time in the match not giving Bouchard a break point and putting the pressure to serve for the set on the Canadian. That game gave the Chinese the confidence to attempt to break and after a double fault Zhang got three break points to stay in the set. Bouchard managed to save one break point, but a solid return from the Chinese confirmed the break and put her one game away from matching the scoreboard.
Zhang powerful serve proved to be a useful weapon as the Canadian still struggled to figure out, losing several points in the return. Another unsuccessful return from Bouchard put Zhang officially back on the set after leveled the score to 5-5. Despite the disappointment of not being able to close the set on her serve, Bouchard held to love to secure a tiebreak. The Chinese faced the pressure of saving one set point to force a deuce, but a double fault brought a second set point for the Canadian but a forehand into the net erased the chance. Bouchard stood a third chance but Zhang also saved that one, after a lengthy service game Zhang finally held to decide this set in a tiebreak.
The tiebreak was a total dominance by Bouchard who quickly trailed to be up 6-0 and have five set points as Zhang continued to hit unforced errors. On her serve, Zhang recovered one set point but that wasn’t enough as Bouchard stormed to take this first set.
Bouchard dominates the second set to win her first match of 2017
The dominance of Bouchard in that tiebreak transcended to the second as the Canadian broke Zhang in the first game. The Canadian consolidated the break after a hold to 30 to lead 2-0. Losing that first set affected Zhang focus as the Chinese was not able to win a single point on her serve to give Bouchard a break to love. Bouchard was in total control of the second set, barely giving points away as her opponent struggled to hit back the ball without making an unforced error. The second break was confirmed after Bouchard held to 15 to now lead 4-0. The Chinese started to play a bit better on her serve, but couldn’t convert those game points into a game. Finally, on the third chance Zhang fired a great serve that forced Bouchard to hit the ball out to put Zhang on the scoreboard with her first game of the set.
Losing a game didn’t seem a bother to the Canadian who put herself one game away from the second round after another hold to love to lead 5-1. Another erratic game from Zhang gave Bouchard her first break point but Zhang saved it with a forehand winner to force a deuce. After five deuces in which Bouchard kept preventing Zhang from holding, the Chinese hit a good serve that Bouchard struggled to return to hold and win her second game in the set.
Once again, the pressure would be on Bouchard as she had the hard task of serve for the match. But just like in the first set, Zhang improved her accuracy in this critical moment and got two break points. Bouchard hit a drop shot that Zhang was able to return but the Canadian had plenty time to end the point with her forehand and take one break point back. An unforced error from the Chinese lead to a deuce in which Bouchard fired a strong serve to get a second match point. In her second chance, Bouchard ended the match with an ace and with that getting her first win of 2017.
Next for Bouchard
In the second round, Bouchard will face the winner of the match between the third seed, Dominika Cibulkova and Laura Siegemund. The Canadian has a winning record against both players. Last year, Bouchard defeated the German in the French Open in straight sets. This being their only encounter.
"Cibulkova only has defeated the Canadian one time in the four meetings they have played. Their last match was last year in Montreal where Bouchard dominated the Slovak. The only victory of Cibulkova over Bouchard happened last year at Wimbledon.