Eugenie Bouchard kicked-off her Qatar Open campaign with the marathon 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4), win over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
The 21-year-old entered the tournament after being awarded a wildcard. Her first round rival, Sevastova, booked her place in the main draw after defeating Sesil Karatantcheva in the final round of qualifying.
As the match got underway, it was the Latvian world No.95 who got off to the sharpest start as she broke Bouchard two consecutive times to lead 4-1. Both players were exchanging a variety of impressive shots on the fast Doha court. Sevastova’s early match momentum was halted after Bouchard retrieved both breaks to level 4-4 during the roller coaster opening set. Despite the promising comeback by the Canadian wildcard, a falter in her concentration ended her first set hopes. Back-to-back unforced errors gifted the Latvian a chance to serve for the set. The mission was easy for Sevastova who serve it out to love, sealing the set with an ace out wide.
Clinching the first set, the Latvian was still struggling mentally as she at times appeared despondent on the court. Sevastova had four chances to break her opponent to lead 3-2, however, she failed to capitalize on all four of them. The mental vulnerability paved the way for Bouchard to bring herself back into the match as she broke twice to lead 5-2 in the second set. The former Wimbledon finalist closed out the second set after Sevastova returned a ball far beyond the baseline.
The unpredictable encounter between the two players took another surprising turn after a disastrous start to the final set by Bouchard. A blistering forehand down the line rewarded Sevastova the break to lead 2-0. As the highest ranked opponent on the court appeared to be on her way out due to a series of unforced errors, Bouchard produced a wide forehand error to extend the Latvian’s lead to 4-0. The 21-year-old redeemed her poor start by fighting back to level with the help of some impressive play. An example of this occurred in the fifth game of the decider when she produced four outstanding winners to break back. Serving for the match Sevastova struggled to find a first serve as a double fault, granted Bouchard two chances to break back and revive her chances in the match. The Latvian was broke after a deep shot from the Canadian forced her to return the ball into the net. The deciding set was eventually levelled at 5-5 following a fierce forehand cross court winner from Bouchard.
The match almost failed to reach a decisive tiebreaker during a thrilling 12-minute game. Trailing 5-6, Bouchard was 40-15 up before her opponent produced a duo of shots to take the game to deuce. Fending off two match points, Bouchard battled to take the game, infuriating Sevastova.
Unlike the majority of the roller coaster match, the tiebreaker started off very one-sided. A blistering forehand cross court winner from Bouchard combined with a costly unforced error from the Latvian contributed to the Canadian getting an early 5-1. Sevastova recovered one of the breaks, but it wasn’t enough as Bouchard took the match with a fast serve to the line to set her up for the winning shot.
During the epic encounter, which lasted two-and-a-half hours, Bouchard produced four aces, saved 9/15 break points and won 56% of her service points.
“I wanted to make it exciting for everyone”. Bouchard joked during her on-court interview.
“It was all kind of as blur, I was just in the moment. I didn’t want to leave Doha early and I’m glad I get to stay here a couple days. I’m grateful to be back on the tour after a rough end to the season”. She added.
