Eugenie Bouchard is back to playing tennis, and she's back to winning, making a good start in the 2023 US Open qualifiers.
Bouchard didn't get a wild card, nor does she have the ranking to enter the main draw directly, which means qualifiers. She started her campaign to get into the main draw today with a win. It's a far better start than her qualifying campaign at Wimbledon, which ended in the first round.
The opponent was not a very strong one as she took on player ranked outside of the Top 500 in Katherine Hui, so the good start isn't surprising, but Bouchard still had to go out there and play a match. She played it very well, taking a little over an hour to get it done. The opening set actually saw her face break points first.
She didn't lose her serve, but even if she did, there was plenty of time to turn things around. After surviving the first few troublesome games, Bouchard established easy control of the match, winning four games in a row to win the set.
The second set was even more impressive as she jumped out to an early but big 4-0 lead. The Canadian essentially won 8 straight games against her opponent, and it was very impressive to see. Serving well was crucial for her as she coasted through her service games, rarely giving up points.
On return, Bouchard did tremendous damage on her opponent's second serve, barely losing any points. She was aggressive and attacked early with great success. The final score was 6-2 6-3 for the Canadian, who needs to win two more matches to book a spot in the main draw.
It's going to be tough, but she's capable of doing it, especially if she keeps playing the way she played the first match. The opponent will either be Dayana Yastremska or Heather Watson.
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