Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard loses in qualifying at National Bank Open in Montreal – Montreal | 24CA News
Without a doubt, Eugenie Bouchard nonetheless holds a sure attract for the individuals of Montreal and Quebec.
This was clear because of the hundreds of individuals cheering her on at IGA Stadium’s centre courtroom on Saturday.
However, there was an impediment in her path: Danielle Collins.
In a three-set duel, Bouchard had some good moments however not sufficient to e book a ticket to the second spherical of the National Bank Open girls’s singles qualifiers on Saturday.
Eugenie Bouchard, from Canada, waves to the group following her qualifying match loss to Danielle Collins, from the United States, on the National Bank Open tennis match in Montreal, Saturday, August 5, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
In her first match on the IGA Stadium centre courtroom since 2018, Bouchard was defeated in three units — 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 — by Collins, a Forty ninth-ranked American who reached the Australian Open last in 2022.
The momentum shifted all through the match, and all three units have been fast. The first set lasted 29 minutes, and the subsequent two every took 27.
After giving hope to the spectators by equalizing the match at one set every, Bouchard misplaced her composure within the third.
Before holding serve within the sixth recreation of the set, Bouchard solely managed six factors within the earlier 5 video games, which she misplaced in simply 17 minutes.
After the match, Bouchard stated her opponent’s recreation took her unexpectedly and he or she wanted a while to regulate.
“She hits with a lot of power. It took me some time to manage it,” she stated. “But at least I could fight, try to stay in the points even when she hit good shots, and try to take control of the points as well, which I did much better in the second set.
“There were good moments for me in this match.”
For the 29-year-old from Montreal, who as soon as reached a career-high rating of No. 5 in 2014 however is now 223rd, it was one other disappointing outing at IGA Stadium, the place she holds a profession document of three wins and 7 losses.
Despite that, she was smiling after the match and stated she skilled some stunning moments within the loss.
“Since it’s been a long time, I forgot a bit about what it’s like to play in front of the fans in Montreal,” she stated. “It’s very particular, there’s one thing I really feel right here that I don’t in every other match on the planet.
“There was a moment in the second set where we played a few good points in a row, and it was crazy. I couldn’t hear my thoughts in my head, the fans were screaming so loud. There were special moments today.”
It’s unsure if it’s formally the Bouchard impact, however the National Bank Open introduced a document attendance for the primary day of qualifiers in Montreal at a WTA match with 25,991 individuals.
Furthermore, all tickets for Saturday’s session at centre courtroom have been bought out.
“It’s a fantastic start for our tournament. We’ve never had so many people at IGA Stadium on the first day of qualifiers,” stated Montreal match director Valerie Tetreault. “The attendance we had today shows how much Montreal is a tennis city.”
All six Canadians fell in need of advancing to the second spherical of qualifying.
The first to fall was Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., who misplaced 6-3, 6-3 to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
Later, 18-year-old Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., ranked 414th on the planet with solely seven profession matches on the WTA degree, got here near inflicting an upset in opposition to American Alycia Parks, the Forty eighth-ranked participant on the planet.
Despite conceding the primary set, Parks managed to show issues round and ultimately gained 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 regardless of her spectacular whole of 17 double faults.
A 3rd Canadian elimination adopted, as Bianca Fernandez, Leylah’s youthful sister, misplaced in straight units, 6-1, 6-3 in opposition to Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, the Forty sixth-ranked participant on the planet and the highest seed within the qualifying draw.
Later within the day, Toronto’s Katherine Sebov, the highest-ranked of the six Canadian gamers within the qualifying draw at No. 144, misplaced in three units to American Peyton Stearns, whereas 19-year-old Mia Kupres of Edmonton additionally misplaced in three units in opposition to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
