Eugenie Bouchard left the BNP Paribas Open in stunning fashion. Her strong start turned into a rough defeat in the opening round as Annika Beck finished her off winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Stadium One at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden Thursday night.
This was the third meeting between the two players with the last dating back to New Haven where the Canadian took care of Beck in two sets. Their history goes back just two years when the two began playing bro and the German took the first. After a dismal performance in Acapulco, the popular Canadian needed a good start at the first masters tournament of the season. Her current rank of 53 meant a lot of hard work ahead with Beck well aware of her chances to knock out one of the personal favorites in the women’s draw.
She started things early with a break of the Canadian followed by a fight for control in the second. Bouchard attempted to go for a break of her own but the unforced errors began to roll into her game. She blew three chances to get on the board allowing the German a two-game stretch. A good save on serve allowed Bouchard to regroup and get into the set with an unforced error coming from Beck on the game point.
A fight to get things even fell apart in the fourth as errors on the forehand seemed to open the door for Beck to rally back. It took three breaks, but the young German scored another to open the gap on Bouchard. It was clear that hard work was going to have to come from Bouchard to keep things interesting. The efforts paid off as she got out of the jam to stay on serve through five. The advice that Bouchard got from coach Tomas Högstedt during the break paid off in dramatic fashion. Playing every point like it was her last, the Canadian got into some thrilling moments that included a rally that ended with her winning on an unforced error.
The fight for control occurred in the seventh where Beck tried to pull off a break but was denied the honor of doing so. She battled to gain the advantage but lost it with key unforced errors that gave Bouchard tremendous momentum. Her performance came in the rallies that ended in front of the net giving the Canadian her first lead of the set.
Beck took a conference with coach Niel McAffer to counter Bouchard’s moments of dominance and trip her up to get through it. She did just that saving a break point but a double fault nearly cost her. She battled two fronts in the game which ultimately turned into a 5-3 hold for Bouchard.
The 23-year-old served for the set with a force that looked to be took much for the German to handle. She reached set point on her second attempt taking it on a ball landing long of the baseline to conclude 49 minutes of play. The second serve of Beck’s was the key to her being in a hole landing just three of seven while her opponent maintained some stability despite having 19 unforced errors.
Needing a good start to the second was what Beck produced holding off the Canadian just enough to put things into motion. The attack she brought in the second had her up three break points holding on her second attempt to jump out to a lead. The threat of letting the set get away from her occurred in the third with Beck hoping to turn the tables and run away clean. Bouchard rallied back to force deuce but blew three break attempts that handed Beck another victory.
While it looked as if Beck would run away with the set, she was denied the opportunity for a bagel on Bouchard as her game faltered enough to hand the Canadian a win. She let get away with another but when it looked as if a comeback was happening in front of her, the German tennis star did everything to lock things into deuce and found a way to inch close to forcing a third set.
Though it took some time, Beck got through the breaks with Bouchard to force the match to its distance winning 6-2. Beck found the weakness of Bouchard’s game but also saw that fatigue was playing a role in both her game and her opponent after 1 hour and 37 minutes. The Canadian took the brunt of trouble racking up over two dozen unforced errors with a serve under 50 percent. The deciding set would be one that Beck or Bouchard would have to show improvement if either wanted to see the second round.
The German took the first set holding serve against the Canadian that continued to take the extra effort on deuce. She opened things up at 2-0 with Bouchard falling apart on service. It opened the door for Beck to dictate while the opportunity presented itself. The world number 61 had things under control capturing another hold of service while Bouchard had nothing strong to answer for it.
The forehand was dead in the water leading to Beck to a 4-0 hold with the match victory approaching quickly. She sat in the driver’s seat until a win for the Canadian came on the break giving her time to avoid the dreaded bagel. While Bouchard remained vulnerable, Beck couldn’t rest as any point could bring life to her struggling adversary.
It came in the sixth where a dramatic six shot net front rally ended with the Canadian getting on the board. Beck opened things up with unforced errors that had the door cracked for the world number 53. She had the best chance to win with a perfectly set up smash but an unforced error ruined it. She made one more attempt but a hawk eye challenge from Beck gave her the eventual win and a chance to serve for a second-round spot.
Beck was stopped in her tracks by the tenacity that Bouchard pulled out on the break to win it with everything she had left. It proved to be her swan song as she handed Beck three match points to end her run after 2 hours and 14 minutes. “After I lost the first set I tried to save the match,” Beck said to Andrew Krasny during her on court interview. “I just tried to fight to the end but it was a great match with great rallies and really happy with the win tonight.”
I was hanging in there trying to make the points long for her, increasing the risk on her end so I’m happy to be in the second round. She’ll take on Kristina Mladenovic on Saturday during a second-round match that would again show her strengths to many who witnessed her first time on center court.
First round exits seems to haunt her for the rest of the seasons if she doesn't spends more time on court. No one can help her, except herself.
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