Bouchard and Stephens Both Pick Up Wins in Eastbourne

June 23, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Calvin Rhoden

Eugenie Bouchard notched her first win of the grass-court season on Tuesday, beating American Alison Riske 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the Aegon International third-round in Eastbourne, England.

“It’s good to finally get a win,” said Bouchard, who entered this tournament with losses in nine of her previous 10 matches. “I had to try and stay with her, she was playing well. I tried to stay calm at the end, enjoy the moment. I’ve really had some ups and downs this season. I’ve learned a lot about tennis, myself and life as a result.”

The seventh-seeded Canadian fired two aces in the final game of the match to put a stamp on this one. She broke three times in seven chances, and saved eight of the 10 break points she faced to hold off Riske.

“I just want to take it one match a time,” added Bouchard. “I felt good with my game today, and I’m happy with the way I fought, so I just want to keep going, and hopefully take another step tomorrow. Regardless of the outcome, I just want to do the right thing tomorrow.”

Bouchard moves on and will play Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic, who cruised past 12th seeded American Madison Keys 6-2, 6-2.

Bencic, who was beaten by Keys at the French Open, didn’t allow a single break point chance and notched four of her own to move past Keys in straight sets.

While Americans Riske and Keys fell on Tuesday, their compatriot Sloane Stephens picked up a huge win over ninth-ranked player in the world Carla Suarez-Navarro, beating the Spaniard 6-1, 7-5.

Stephens capitalized on six of her nine break point chances and won more than half of the points on Suarez-Navarro’s serve to move on. She will take on the winner of Elina Svitolina and Heather Watson.

The biggest upset of the day came from Great Britain’s own Johanna Konta, who downed fourth-seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-4.

“It’s important for me not to treat it differently, I do believe very much so that I do need to approach every match exactly the same with my same intentions and personal goals,” said Konta. “I’m just happy that I was able to do that today and I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to be able to do that again.”

Konta will play Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in the third-round. Muguruza came back to beat Polona Hercog 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

Second-seed Caroline Wozniacki came back from a break advantage down in the first set to beat Serbian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6(4), 6-2. Eighth-seed Karolina Pliskova, ninth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska and 10th seed Andrea Petkovic all advanced as well on Tuesday. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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