Canadian No.1 Eugenie Bouchard produced an erratic performance during her 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, win over world No.125 Risa Ozaki in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Bouchard, who reached the final of the Malaysian Open last week, endured a slow start against a motivated Ozaki. The world No.42 was broken twice during the opening set as the Japanese player unexpectedly took the first set after 30 minutes of play.
The inconsistencies in Bouchard’s game continued into the vital second set. Initially the world No.42 got off to a positive start by breaking Ozaki for the first time in the match to generate a 2-0 lead. The break was the first of seven to occur during the middle set. Each time Bouchard broke to gain some momentum, the qualifier broke back to level proceedings. The run of breaks of serve ended at a pivotal moment when Bouchard served to take the second set. A sharp backhand winner awarded the Canadian with two set points before she took the set with a routine forehand winner at the net.
As the match progressed, Bouchard’s dominance in the match grew against a tiring Ozaki. The favorite broke two consecutive times to race to a commanding 5-1 lead. Serving for the match, the Canadian grabbed her first match point after hitting a deep forehand crosscourt shot to force her opponent to return the ball into the net. She sealed the win after a lengthy exchange concluded with her opponent hitting the ball out of the court.
During her two-hour battle, Bouchard produced six aces, two double faults and claimed 55% of her first service points. Following her first round triumph, the Canadian admitted that she was feeling slightly fatigued.
“I felt out of sorts,” Bouchard said in her press conference.
“I felt more emotional than usual. It was one of those days where I felt weird and off on the court.
“I just told myself ‘I love playing tennis I got to keep trying. If I lose I want to go down the right way, playing my game.’ At least it went the right way.”
The former Wimbledon finalist also paid tribute to the performance of her Japanese opponent. Ozaki is currently at a ranking best of 125th in the world and won two ITF $25,000 titles last year. Bouchard said the qualifier played ‘better than she expected’.
Next up for the Canadian will be 21st seed Sloane Stephens. It will be their first meeting on the tour since 2013 with Bouchard currently trailing the head-to-head 1-2.
Eugenie Bouchard’s post-match press conference (video via Youtube account Stephanie Myles)
