Coco Vandeweghe gained a huge boost of confidence at the Australian Open Friday. The unranked American went the distance with Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena on the grounds of Melbourne Park. Vandeweghe made her way to the fourth round for the first time down under with an edge that put her in new territory.
The matchup between the two tennis stars becomes important for both sides with good history on the line. The Canadian has been trying since 2015 to return to the high levels of the tournament since reaching the semifinals back in 2014. Vandeweghe hasn’t been out of the third round and would more than enjoy continuing her march towards a first major title. The American has had amazing victories so far with her first in taking down Roberta Vinci.
Keeping the pace in straight sets after a win against Pauline Parmentier led her to another big fight against a popular foe. Bouchard got out of danger in her opening set against Peng Shuai to win in straight sets with a good finish. While she brought back the memory of defeating Vandeweghe at Indian Wells two years ago, her current state of readiness will need to remain consistent.
It was a tough one for Bouchard to win the opening game on serve but keeping a point ahead of Vandeweghe proved challenging yet successful. The American served in the second with big ground strokes in the rallies that let her win by two game points. The two went on to hold service through the next four straight making the next game quite a challenge. Bouchard served the ball up to Vandeweghe who pushed to get the break. The American forced deuce where after two breaks found her with the lead.
She pushed further with a solid hold of serve that shut down Bouchard in her tracks needing a win in the ninth or finding herself down a set fast. Bouchard responded with a love service of her own launching a final shot with a tight angled return away from Vandeweghe. The American still had an opportunity to close out the set and to work in the tenth with a winner against the Canadian. It was enough that quieted her once more getting three set points on Bouchard to win the set after 35 minutes.
The first serve of the Canadian was less than the desired level she wanted to be at but keeping the unforced errors low was one main reason for not giving up. She proved that going into the second with a win on service followed by a break of Vandeweghe. The momentum from the Montreal native grew into a 3-0 hold as she was breaking away with 18 service points won so far. Vandeweghe wanted nothing more than to break the young Canadian and get on the board before it was too late. She held on service in the fourth thinking the worst was over. Bouchard regained the three-game gap on the American wanting to get the set over with and play for a deciding set.
She went up 5-1 but was delayed from winning the set with another win to Vandeweghe’s name. things started to look up for the American winning another love service on Bouchard despite being down two games from a tie. The 22-year-old Canadian served for the set a second time pulling off perfect service. She had 40-0 on Vandeweghe but a double fault paused her. Bouchard won the game on the next play as the American’s returned fell long of the baseline concluding 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The luck for Bouchard allowed her to play a deciding set hoping that she could pull off the win despite playing in a sudden death situation. A winning streak opened the set well for Bouchard getting the break on Vandeweghe. She had things going well with the American firing too many shots long on the returns giving Bouchard more confidence. It led to another service game for Bouchard who pushed her streak to three.
An important service hold came for Vandeweghe who used her second chance on serve to get into the third with strong actions and support from her camp encouraging her not to give in. She picked up another win in the fifth but remained a game down from tying things up. After seven, Bouchard still kept out front but when the American got on serve, she managed to hang on and push the Canadian to move ahead of drop a game.
It came in the eighth that went into a long fight on deuce that concluded with the American getting the win that leveled her with Bouchard for the first time in the set. Vandeweghe played for control in the ninth but Bouchard brought that to a halt with a force on deuce. Every time the Canadian got the advantage, her shot feel long sending things back to deuce three times in a row.
The same was said for Vandeweghe who had the same problems on the rallies watching the ball land just behind the baseline. She switched up her strategy getting the ball assured to land inside the court. It took her six breaks but got the job done making it a 13-minute battle; the longest game of the match.
The fatigue of the ninth game didn’t take anything away from the Canadian who went up 40-0 on Vandeweghe. She got in front of the ball during a short rally that gave her a hold of serve and a push to extra frames. The American made work on assuring her the lead that left Bouchard in a critical point of bowing out. She brought everything she had left on play to get into a tiebreaker, but the hard hits from Vandeweghe were too much.
Bouchard couldn’t maintain the toughness on the rally that led to the American winning her way to the fourth round in a 2 hour and 21-minute fight. Vandeweghe’s success was her toughest of the tournament with more to come facing the winner between world number one Angelique Kerber and Kristyna Pliskova on Sunday.
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