Eugenie Bouchard
Hometown Bouchard Flawless in 6-2 6-0 Win over Cibulkova
by By Charles David Mathieu-Poulin
(July 27, 2016)MONTREAL – Following her spectacular win in a third set tiebreak against Lucie Safarova on Tuesday, Eugenie Bouchard was facing another difficult test on WEdnesday in 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova. In arguably one of the best performance of her career, the hometown favorite was nearly flawless and handed her opponent a mere two games to reach her maiden third round at the Rogers Cup.
Cibulkova and Bouchard had some history; they were facing for the 4th time in the past year, with Bouchard winning two tight three-setters at the US Open and Hobart, while Cibulkova was superior a few weeks ago in Wimbledon. Right from the get-go, you could see Bouchard wanted to avenge that loss: ‘The match in Wimbledon was a disappointment for me. She was dominating then, and I knew I had to change that’. And she did: the Canadian came out firing, moving as well as ever, answering back to all of Cibulkova’s trademark power off the ground. She managed to turn defense into offense, and use the crowd’s energy in her favor. Bouchard broke on a Cibulkova double fault in the first game and never looked back, reeling off the last nine games to win with a surprisingly easy 6-2 6-0 scoreline.
Bouchard will face another Slovakian player in the third round, as surprising qualifier Kristina Kucova defeated 8th seed Carla Suarez-Navarro in three tough sets. While Bouchard mentioned she barely knew anything about her opponent, die-hard tennis fans will remember their infamous Fed Cup encounter in 2014, where Eugenie Bouchard refused to participate in the usual pre-tie picture of opponents shaking hands, describing the routine as ‘lame’. This was repeated in a subsequent tie against Romania and has been the cause of many critics on the Canadian’s media etiquette.
Bouchard will be the last Canadian standing, as her fellow Montreal native Françoise Abanda couldn’t follow on her impressive first round win. Facing 17th seed Elina Svitolina, the local player led 6-5 in both sets, but couldn’t conclude in a 7-6(2) 7-6(3) loss.
Other winners of the day included Venus Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber, Madison Keys, in-form Johanna Konta and Roberta Vinci.
COUPE ROGERS PRÉSENTÉE PAR BANQUE NATIONALE – MONTREAL, CAN
$2,714,413
25 / 31 JULY / JUILLET 2016
RESULTS – JULY 27, 2016
Women’s
Singles – Second Round
[2] A. Kerber (GER) d M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 63 46 63
[4] A. Radwanska (POL) d M. Niculescu (ROU) 61 75
[6] V. Williams (USA) d B. Strycova (CZE) 63 60
[7] R. Vinci (ITA) d [Q] C. Giorgi (ITA) 26 63 64
[Q] K. Kucova (SVK) d [8] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) 36 64 64
[9] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) d [Q] A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) 75 60
[10] M. Keys (USA) d M. Brengle (USA) 64 63
E. Bouchard (CAN) d [11] D. Cibulkova (SVK) 62 60
[12] P. Kvitova (CZE) d A. Petkovic (GER) 62 64
D. Kasatkina (RUS) d [13] S. Stosur (AUS) 76(1) 63
[14] K. Pliskova (CZE) d S. Errani (ITA) walkover
[15] J. Konta (GBR) d [Q] V. King (USA) 75 61
[16] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d [LL] C. Mchale (USA) 62 75
[17] E. Svitolina (UKR) d [WC] F. Abanda (CAN) 76(2) 76(3)
Women’s
Doubles – Second Round
[WC] S. Halep (ROU) / M. Niculescu (ROU) d K. Bondarenko (UKR) / O. Savchuk (UKR) 61 63
First Round
D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) d [6] Y. Xu (CHN) / S. Zheng (CHN) 64 63
N. Broady (GBR) / S. Rogers (USA) d E. Hozumi (JPN) / M. Irigoyen (ARG) 63 62
N. Hibino (JPN) / A. Rosolska (POL) d J. Ostapenko (LAT) / E. Svitolina (UKR) 46 75 10-6
[WC] D. Gavrilova (AUS) / S. Stosur (AUS) d C. Chuang (TPE) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 46 63 10-8
A. Groenefeld (GER) / K. Peschke (CZE) d [Alt] M. Brengle (USA) / T. Moore (GBR) 60 64
ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016
CENTRAL start 12:30 pm
[14] K. Pliskova (CZE) vs [5] S. Halep (ROU)
Not Before 2:30 pm
[4] A. Radwanska (POL) vs [16] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[10] M. Keys (USA) vs [6] V. Williams (USA)
E. Bouchard (CAN) vs [Q] K. Kucova (SVK)
BANQUE NATIONALE start 12:30 pm
[7] R. Vinci (ITA) vs D. Kasatkina (RUS)
Not Before 2:30 pm
[9] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) vs [12] P. Kvitova (CZE)
Not Before 4:30 pm
[17] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [2] A. Kerber (GER)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[LL] V. Lepchenko (USA) vs [15] J. Konta (GBR)
B. Mattek-Sands (USA) / H. Watson (GBR) vs [3] H. Chan (TPE) / Y. Chan (TPE)
COURT 9 start 12:30 pm
C. Mchale (USA) / A. Muhammad (USA) vs [7] R. Atawo (USA) / A. Spears (USA)
[1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) vs N. Broady (GBR) / S. Rogers (USA)
After suitable rest – [WC] D. Gavrilova (AUS) / S. Stosur (AUS) vs [8] K. Pliskova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE)
A. Groenefeld (GER) / K. Peschke (CZE) vs [2] C. Garcia (FRA) / K. Mladenovic (FRA)
COURT 5 start 3:00 pm
D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) vs A. Klepac (SLO) / K. Srebotnik (SLO)
After suitable rest – [4] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS) vs N. Hibino (JPN) / A. Rosolska (POL)
Rogers Cup
Toronto, Canada
RESULTS – WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2016
Singles – Second Round
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) d G. Muller (LUX) 75 76(3)
[3] K. Nishikori (JPN) d [Q] D. Novikov (USA) 64 75
[4] M. Raonic (CAN) d Y. Lu (TPE) 63 63
K. Anderson (RSA) d [6] D. Thiem (AUT) 41 ret. (hip pain)
[7] D. Goffin (BEL) d S. Querrey (USA) 64 21 ret. (low back)
I. Karlovic (CRO) d [8] M. Cilic (CRO) 64 76(3)
[Q] R. Harrison (USA) d [9] J. Isner (USA) 76(3) 67(4) 64
[10] G. Monfils (FRA) d V. Pospisil (CAN) 76(6) 60
[12] B. Tomic (AUS) d [WC] S. Diez (CAN) 63 76(4)
R. Ram (USA) d [13] L. Pouille (FRA) 64 76(5)
[16] J. Sock (USA) d D. Young (USA) 64 63
[Q] R. Stepanek (CZE) d [WC] P. Polansky (CAN) 76(5) 64
[Q] J. Donaldson (USA) d F. Fognini (ITA) 63 36 63
G. Dimitrov (BUL) d [WC] D. Shapovalov (CAN) 64 63
Doubles – Second Round
[3] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA) d [PR] M. Cilic (CRO) / M. Draganja (CRO) 76(3) 67(4) 10-5
T. Berdych (CZE) / R. Stepanek (CZE) d [4] R. Bopanna (IND) / J. Rojer (NED) 61 64
[5] F. Mergea (ROU) / H. Tecau (ROU) d J. Isner (USA) / A. Zverev (GER) 76(1) 60
Doubles – First Round
M. Matkowski (POL) / M. Mirnyi (BLR) d L. Kubot (POL) / A. Peya (AUT) 63 76(5)
SCHEDULE – THURSDAY, 28 JULY 2016
CENTRE COURT start 11:00 am
R. Ram (USA) vs [3] K. Nishikori (JPN)
Not Before 1:00 pm
[16] J. Sock (USA) vs [2] S. Wawrinka (SUI)
[1] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA) vs M. Matkowski (POL) / M. Mirnyi (BLR)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[4] M. Raonic (CAN) vs [Q] J. Donaldson (USA)
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] R. Stepanek (CZE)
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
K. Anderson (RSA) vs [12] B. Tomic (AUS)
Not Before 12:30 pm
[10] G. Monfils (FRA) vs [7] D. Goffin (BEL)
I. Karlovic (CRO) vs G. Dimitrov (BUL)
[Q] R. Harrison (USA) vs [5] T. Berdych (CZE)
[6] D. Nestor (CAN) / V. Pospisil (CAN) vs N. Kyrgios (AUS) / J. Sock (USA)
COURT 1 start Not Before 2:00 pm
After Suitable Rest – B. Tomic (AUS) / V. Troicki (SRB) vs [2] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA)
[7] R. Klaasen (RSA) / R. Ram (USA) vs [WC] P. Bester (CAN) / A. Shamasdin (CAN)
G. Dimitrov (BUL) / S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs [8] H. Kontinen (FIN) / J. Peers (AUS)