Bouchard Stops Sharapova in Second Round of Madrid Open; Second Seed Pliskova Loses
Eugenie Bouchard
(May 8, 2017) One of the more outspoken players against Maria Sharapova’s return to the tennis tour, backed up her “trash talk” with a second round win over the five-time major winner on Monday at the Madrid Open.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard earned her first-ever win over Sharapova by knocking out the Russian 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Bouchard had called her opponent a “cheater” last month, saying that Sharapova should have been banned for life for her use of meldonium. Sharapova served a 15-month doping ban after testing positive for the substance at the 2016 Australian Open.
“It was a very tough match, not only physically and tennis-wise, but also mentally and emotionally,” Bouchard said.
“Each point was a battle from the first point. It was really a fight. I’m just proud that I came out stronger in the end and held it together in the third set.”
“I definitely had some extra motivation going into today,” Bouchard explained. “Obviously I had never beaten her before. Also given the circumstances…
“I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck, players I don’t normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me.
“So I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people. I really felt support.”
Maria Sharapova
“I definitely thought I should have taken care of the first set,” Sharapova said in regard to blowing a 4-2 lead. “I had a letdown, being up a break. I was happy with the way I changed things around in the second, stepped in, was a little bit more aggressive inside the baseline.
“Then the third, kind of felt like it was a similar pattern: set up opportunities, breakpoints, and just did not convert them today.”
Sharapova said that she needs no motivation to play anyone.
“As I said, every match at this point is important.” Said Sharapova. “I’m just one of the two players that’s out on the court. Everything that surrounds myself, I don’t really know a lot of it. I don’t pay attention to much of it.
“I’ve been part of this game for many years. I know what the drill is. I know the excitement. I know there’s always a lot of talk and buzz, matchups, rivalries, news. It’s all part of the game.
“But at the end of the day, it’s just two athletes competing against each other, and I’m one of them. That’s how I treat this game.”
“I think I would be worried about myself if I sat her and said I’m pretty happy with losing a tennis match, no matter who I face, no matter what round it is, whether it’s the first round or final of a Grand Slam.
“You know, I’m a big competitor. What you work for for so many hours every single day is to be on the winning end of matches. Today was just not that day.
“Of course, I’m disappointed. That’s what’s going to make me a better player. That’s what’s going to win me more tournaments and more Grand Slams.”
Bouchard will be taking on Angelique Kerber next.
“I want to go for it. I’m the underdog, by far,” the Canadian said of the match up. “It’s nice to have this position these past couple years. So I want to at least take advantage of that, just go for it, play good tennis, build on this, and enjoy it, kind of just show what I can do.
“Yeah, just go for it.”
Top seed Angelique Kerber beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, coming back from a break down in the final set. The win puts her in the third round and will move her into the No. 1 spot next week.
Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3, she had a chance to move into the top spot in the rankings next week. She’ll be No. 2 in the world next week with Serena Williams down to No. 3.
ATP RESULTS – MONDAY, 8 MAY 2017
Singles – First Round
[10] J. Tsonga (FRA) d [Q] A. Kuznetsov (RUS) 76(5) 67(5) 75
[11] T. Berdych (CZE) d [Q] D. Istomin (UZB) 64 64
[12] G. Dimitrov (BUL) d P. Kohlschreiber (GER) 76(7) 64
N. Mahut (FRA) d [14] J. Sock (USA) 64 06 76(4)
G. Simon (FRA) d [15] G. Monfils (FRA) 06 60 76(0) – saved 2 M.P.
[16] N. Kyrgios (AUS) d M. Baghdatis (CYP) 76(1) 64
[WC] M. Copil (ROU) d [WC] G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 76(6) 46 76(9) – saved 2 M.P.
[LL] J. Donaldson (USA) d [Q] A. Mannarino (FRA) 75 63
P. Cuevas (URU) d [Q] T. Bellucci (BRA) 76(2) 46 76(6) – saved 3 M.P.
R. Haase (NED) d D. Evans (GBR) 75 62
F. Mayer (GER) d M. Granollers (ESP) 75 75
D. Ferrer (ESP) d [Q] M. Kukushkin (KAZ) 26 76(1) 64
F. Lopez (ESP) d [Q] E. Escobedo (USA) 64 64
Doubles – First Round
O. Marach (AUT) / M. Pavic (CRO) d F. Mergea (ROU) / A. Qureshi (PAK) 67(5) 63 10-8
R. Haase (NED) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d M. Matkowski (POL) / A. Peya (AUT) 75 76(5)
F. Fognini (ITA) / T. Huey (PHI) d P. Kohlschreiber (GER) / D. Thiem (AUT) 76(6) 62
[Alt] B. Baker (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d G. Muller (LUX) / G. Simon (FRA) 57 76(2) 10-8
WTA RESULTS – MAY 08, 2017
Women’s
Singles – Second Round
[1] A. Kerber (GER) d K. Siniakova (CZE) 62 16 75
A. Sevastova (LAT) d [2] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) 63 63
[8] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) d A. Riske (USA) 26 76(9) 62
C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) d [10] C. Wozniacki (DEN) 64 26 62
[14] K. Mladenovic (FRA) d L. Davis (USA) 63 16 76(1)
[WC] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) d [15] B. Strycova (CZE) 36 63 63
E. Bouchard (CAN) d [WC] M. Sharapova (RUS) 75 26 64
Women’s
Doubles – First Round
[5] T. Babos (HUN) / A. Hlavackova (CZE) d [WC] J. Konta (GBR) / S. Rogers (USA) 75 61
I. Begu (ROU) / S. Halep (ROU) d [8] A. Spears (USA) / K. Srebotnik (SLO) 57 63 10-8
K. Bertens (NED) / J. Larsson (SWE) d S. Kuznetsova (RUS) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) 76(4) 75
C. Mchale (USA) / M. Niculescu (ROU) d [PR] B. Krejcikova (CZE) / A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) 63 36 10-8
G. Dabrowski (CAN) / Y. Xu (CHN) d H. Chan (TPE) / J. Ostapenko (LAT) 57 63 10-6
S. Stosur (AUS) / S. Zhang (CHN) d D. Gavrilova (AUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 76(5) 62
[WC] A. Parra Santonja (ESP) / S. Soler-Espinosa (ESP) d C. Chuang (TPE) / S. Peng (CHN) 61 46 10-3
SCHEDULE – TUESDAY, 9 MAY 2017
MANOLO SANTANA start 12:00 noon
ATP – I. Karlovic (CRO) vs R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
WTA – R. Vinci (ITA) vs [3] S. Halep (ROU)
ATP – [1] A. Murray (GBR) vs [WC] M. Copil (ROU)
Not Before 8:00 pm
ATP – A. Zverev (GER) vs F. Verdasco (ESP)
WTA – [4] D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs [Q] O. Dodin (FRA)
ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO start 12:00 noon
ATP – [WC] T. Robredo (ESP) vs [WC] N. Almagro (ESP)
ATP – B. Paire (FRA) vs P. Carreno Busta (ESP)
Not Before 4:00 pm
WTA – [WC] S. Cirstea (ROU) vs C. Bellis (USA)
ATP – [Q] P. Herbert (FRA) vs [13] L. Pouille (FRA)
WTA – T. Bacsinszky (SUI) vs K. Bertens (NED)
ESTADIO 3 start 12:00 noon
WTA – [16] S. Stosur (AUS) vs [Q] M. Duque-Mariño (COL)
ATP – A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs D. Schwartzman (ARG)
ATP – F. Mayer (GER) vs [9] D. Goffin (BEL)
WTA – [Q] D. Vekic (CRO) vs M. Doi (JPN)
ATP – [LL] J. Donaldson (USA) vs [8] D. Thiem (AUT)
PISTA 4 start 12:00 noon
WTA – L. Siegemund (GER) vs C. Vandeweghe (USA)
ATP – M. Zverev (GER) vs [LL] B. Coric (CRO)
ATP – [PR] T. Haas (GER) vs G. Muller (LUX)
ATP – R. Bopanna (IND) / P. Cuevas (URU) vs F. Martin (FRA) / D. Nestor (CAN)
ATP – [1] H. Kontinen (FIN) / J. Peers (AUS) vs O. Marach (AUT) / M. Pavic (CRO)
PISTA 5 start 12:00 noon
ATP – R. Harrison (USA) vs B. Tomic (AUS)
WTA – D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) vs [3] Y. Chan (TPE) / M. Hingis (SUI)
Not Before 3:00 pm
WTA – [Q] J. Larsson (SWE) vs I. Begu (ROU)
WTA – After suitable rest – N. Hibino (JPN) / A. Rosolska (POL) vs I. Begu (ROU) / S. Halep (ROU)
PISTA 6 start 12:00 noon
WTA – [Q] S. Zheng (CHN) vs [Q] Q. Wang (CHN)
WTA – [WC] A. Parra Santonja (ESP) / S. Soler-Espinosa (ESP) vs [2] E. Makarova (RUS) / E. Vesnina (RUS)
ATP – [5] R. Klaasen (RSA) / R. Ram (USA) vs N. Kyrgios (AUS) / J. Sock (USA)
ATP – [WC] D. Marrero (ESP) / T. Robredo (ESP) vs P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
PISTA 7 start 12:00 noon
WTA – [6] L. Hradecka (CZE) / K. Siniakova (CZE) vs R. Atawo (USA) / D. Kasatkina (RUS)
WTA – [4] S. Mirza (IND) / Y. Shvedova (KAZ) vs C. Mchale (USA) / M. Niculescu (ROU)
WTA – [7] J. Goerges (GER) / B. Strycova (CZE) vs A. Groenefeld (GER) / K. Peschke (CZE)
WTA – C. Liang (CHN) / O. Savchuk (UKR) vs [WC] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP)