TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – On the women’s tour in this year, the player who has been most dominant at the majors is not Serena or Sharapova. In fact, she is not even officially in the top 10. This player is Eugenie Bouchard who has made her third successive major semifinals by taking out Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4. Cordell Hackshaw
Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships
On the women’s tour in this year, the player who has been most dominant at the majors is not Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova. This player does not have a major title nor has she even reached a major final. In fact, she is not even officially in the top 10. This player is Eugenie Bouchard (13) who has made her third successive major semifinals by taking out Angelique Kerber (9) 6-3 6-4. Many had imagined that it would have been near impossible for the Canadian to make it this far at Wimbledon as she potentially had to face former champions Williams and Sharapova to get here. However, both Williams and Sharapova were dismissed earlier in the tournament and Bouchard who took care of business to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal. “I’m excited to be in the semis. But, of course, you know, never satisfied, so definitely want to go a step further, or as far as I can,” Bouchard said after the match.
Bouchard and Kerber remained on serve until the 8th game. Bouchard who had just fought off four break points in her last service game, was up 4-3. Kerber too would fend four break points but it was the 5th one she could not save when her backhand went into the net. Bouchard was now serving for the opening set up 5-3. Kerber, it seemed at this point, had lost the plan of attack as she looked well out of sorts. That physical strength and mental fortitude that saw Kerber past Sharapova yesterday were now waning against Bouchard. It would be another backhand error that gave Bouchard the set 6-3 in 34 minutes.
Kerber’s woes continued well into the 2nd set as Bouchard was finding her range and making the winning shots. Bouchard had 16 winners alone in the 2nd set. Kerber remained erratic and was struggling to hold serve. It was a war of attrition at this point and Bouchard who had Tuesday off, was winning handily. Bouchard broke her in the 3rd and 5th games to go up 4-1. Perhaps sensing the danger of this moment, Kerber found some resolve and broke Bouchard for 2-4. She again had to fight off break points in order to hold but did so for 3-4. Bouchard got back into the serving groove and edged ahead 5-3. Kerber held serve and forced Bouchard to serve it out. Bouchard clearly was showing the signs of pressure as Kerber had two break points to get back on serve. However, some clutch serving from Bouchard would see her to match point. On match point, Bouchard unleashed another big serve and hit the forehand winner for the match. She took care of Kerber 6-3 6-4 in 72 minutes.
After the match, Kerber spoke about the difficulty of coming back today to face Bouchard after the tough match against Sharapova the day before, “I don’t have really time to recover after the match yesterday … I feel everything after the match yesterday … I was fighting till the last point. I was trying. I was still believe that I can maybe change the match and the game … [I]t was tough. She was playing good in the important moments.” Bouchard served relatively well getting in 66% of her 1st serves and winning 81% of those points. She was very aggressive throughout the match winning 12/16 points at net. She had 29 winners to 20 errors compared to Kerber who had 17 winners to 14 errors. In the semifinals, Bouchard will play Simona Halep who dismantled another German Sabine Lisicki 6-4 6-0. Bouchard lost to Halep in their only meeting earlier this year at Indian Wells. Of her game plan, Bouchard stated, “[R]eally just try to go for it and take my chances. You know, leave it all out on the court. It’s the semis, so I’m going to expect the toughest match ever.”
