Quebecer Eugenie Bouchard made a successful comeback in qualifying for the United States Open on Tuesday in New York.
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The 28-year-old athlete defeated Japan’s Yuki Naito in two identical sets 6-3 in the first round of the pre-tournament. The duel lasted 92 minutes. It was the first win for ‘Genie’ in 18 months following she was sidelined for a long time due to shoulder surgery.
Bouchard took the service of the 197th player on the world board four times and was the victim of only one breakage. She was also able to save five break points. The winner also won 67% of rallies played on her first serve, in addition to amassing two aces.
For her next match, Bouchard will face the Czech Linda Noskova. The latter is the fourth seed in qualifying for the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the season. The 17-year-old is No. 87 in the WTA world rankings.
Carol Zhao fails
For her part, the Canadian Carol Zhao lost in two sets of 6-2 and 6-4 once morest the Chinese Zhu Lin.
The world No. 74 player and second seed in the qualifying event took just under two hours to advance to the second and penultimate stage of qualifying.
Zhao was broken five times and faced 10 chances to lose serve. The representative of the maple leaf won 53% of plays when she put her first serve between the lines and only 36% of rallies on her second attempts.
