Top-Seeded Bouchard Ousted at Family Circle Cup

April 9, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Bouchard_Crop_2
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

American Lauren Davis notched one of the biggest wins of her career on Wednesday afternoon, beating top-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.

Davis was the aggressor and more tactful player all match long. After notching two break points in the opening set to take it 6-3, she completely out dueled Bouchard in the second.

After an exchange of holds through the first three games of the second set, Davis broke Bouchard at love to take a 3-1 lead. From there, it was all Davis, as she would break again in the sixth game and consolidate it with a hold, moving past Bouchard in straight sets in one hour and seven minutes.

“I’d never beaten her before, so I came out knowing I had nothing to lose,” said Davis, who is ranked 66th in the world. “I knew to beat her I’d have to be fearless—I saw this as a great opportunity.”

Davis did play fearless as she struck a number of winners on Bouchard’s serve. She hit 18 winners to only five unforced errors, while taking advantage of 33 unforced errors from the top-seeded Canadian.

Playing on clay, Davis says, fits her game.

“I think clay really works for me because I’m pretty fast,” said Davis. “I can slide really well and I can make a lot of balls, so it really works for me.”

Bouchard is now 2-4 on the year since reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

As for Davis, she moves onto the third-round in Charleston where she will take on 15th seed Mona Barthel of Germany. Barthel hung on in a second-set tiebreaker to oust American Sloane Stephens 6-3, 7-6(2) on Wednesday afternoon.

Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys picked up an easy win, rolling past Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1. The seventh-seed Keys notched five break points and saved three of her own to move on in under an hour.

Keys will play Romania’s Andreea Mitu in the third-round after Mitu beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-2.

American Shelby Rogers was eliminated on Wednesday. Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Rogers 7-5, 6-1 to advance and set up a third-round matchup with fourth-seeded Italian Sara Errani. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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