The WTA season is getting ready for the U.S. Open at the end of August and Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal, Quebec won her first match since January at the Prague Open. On Monday, Bouchard defeated Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, the eighth seed in the tournament, in straight sets by a score of 6-0, 6-3, in the first round.
Bouchard won 60 of the 98 points, including four of seven break point opportunities. One could make the argument, it was Bouchard’s finest performance on the tennis court in years.
Kudermetova is currently ranked 40th in the world, after being a career-high 38th in February of this year. A doubles specialist, she won the 2019 Wuhan Open with Duan Yingying of China this past September, and reached the semifinals of the 2019 Madrid Open with partner Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.
Bouchard had two impressive wins earlier this season in reaching the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. In the first round, Bouchard defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, the 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, 7-5, 7-5, and then beat Caroline Garcia of France, the 46th-ranked player in the world, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.
Bouchard will now play the winner of Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia in the second round. Bouchard is the only Canadian competing in Prague. The heavy favourite to win the title is Simona Halep of Romania, the second-ranked player in the world, and reigning Wimbledon champion.
