Another embarrassing early exit for Bouchard

Top Stories

Another embarrassing early exit for Bouchard
Eugenie Bouchard leaves the court after her loss against Ashleigh Barty.

Published: Thu 23 Mar 2017, 10:21 PM

Last updated: Fri 24 Mar 2017, 12:27 AM

Eugenie Bouchard's poor run of form continued on Wednesday as the Canadian suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Australia's Ashleigh Barty at the Miami Open.
Wildcard Barty's 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win sets up an all-Australian clash in the second round of the WTA hardcourt event against 14th seed Samantha Stosur.
But for the 23-year-old Bouchard, a former world number five who has slumped to 56th in the rankings, it was another blow after her first-round exit in Indian Wells.
"It has been a bit of a struggle," said a stone-faced Bouchard, who was unable to account for her loss of form. Bouchard was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon in 2014 but, apart from a run to the semifinal at Sydney where she was beaten by Britain's Johanna Konta, she has been unable to make an impact this year.
Serbia's Jelena Jankovic was another high-profile early exit, the 2008 Miami finalist falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova.
Local favorite and Rio Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig was comfortably dealt with 6-2, 6-4 by Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
Britain's Heather Watson, who reached the fourth round in Miami last year, was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 by Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig.
Meanwhile, young American Ernesto Escobedo pulled off a surprise victory in three sets over Britain's Dan Evans in the men's first round. The 20-year-old Mexican-American, who grew up playing on rough public courts in Los Angeles, is playing in his Masters 1000 series event having qualified with a straight sets win over Argentine Renzo Olivo on Tuesday.
Escobedo, ranked 108th, beat the 43rd ranked Evans 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 at Crandon Park thanks mainly to his strong first serve, which included 10 aces.
Escobedo will now face 25th-seed Fernando Verdasco in the second round and he can expect plenty of support from a strongly Hispanic South Florida crowd.
Another American hopeful, Ryan Harrison, bowed out with a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Italy's 40th ranked Fabio Fognini while his compatriot Michael Mmoh was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by France's Nicolas Mahut.
Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka triumphed in a two-hour battle with Australia's Jordan Thompson.
Nishioka, who reached the fourth round at Indian Wells last week, saved 11 of 14 break points to secure the 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
France's Benoit Paire beat Slovak Martin Klizan 7-6(4), 6-3 to earn a second-round challenge with 21st seed Pablo Cuevas.

By AFP

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

More news from