Eugenie Bouchard got out of serious trouble to walk away victorious at the French Open Tuesday. The 2014 semifinalist overcame a dismal first set to beat Risa Ozaki 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Two at Roland Garros.
The Canadian had a tough outing against the Japanese and surely had it on her mind going into the year’s second grand slam. Bouchard showed tremendous improvement in her clay court game back at Madrid that also saw her increase the pressure of her second-round match that eventually got her to the quarterfinals for the first time. Playing with a current right ankle injury would be another challenge to add to first round jitters for the 23-year-old but if her actions under the spotlight were handled, she could see herself going getting back to the semifinals like she did in 2014.
The start she had in the opening set was less than expected as she couldn’t keep a lock down on the score. At every point in games, it was Ozaki who overtook the Canadian and built herself a gap. The margin turned into a very large one that had Bouchard down 5-0. Though she avoided the bagel with a break in the sixth, the 23-year-old attempted to fight back and reel Ozaki in. Bouchard captured another game but her opponent still meant business.
She did not make it easy in the eighth as the two went to deuce with Bouchard trying everything to attain the advantage. Every chance either fell wide or was returned by Ozaki who won after 36 minutes. The Canadian had a very lopsided game having had a dozen winners but twice as many unforced errors that caused her to be down a set.
She turned things around with a service hold in the first winning by two game points which she considered a positive outcome. Bouchard followed it up with a break of Ozaki who received a time warning from the umpire which took her off her game. She recovered to get back to things with Bouchard but after six games elapsed, the Canadian took off with control and never looked back eyeing a chance to make something now that she was dead even with the Japanese player. Bouchard won 6-3 in just 30 minutes indicating that she was warmed up and ready to fight in the last set of the match.
Bouchard gave herself a 2-0 lead that saw the game take a slow pace but one that let her be in front. Ozaki got on the board in the third but with Bouchard carrying a lead, the 23-year-old had a fighting chance to dictate. She built a 4-1 rout for herself but seemed to have help due to leg strains for Ozaki that had her struggling on the returns. She thought she could get a medical timeout with the trainer but the time wasn’t right for her do so.
While she waited for the chance, Bouchard continued to get closer to the match that if won in the seventh, wouldn’t give the Japanese player a chance at all. This led Ozaki to play under a lot of pressure dealing with the leg issue as well as staying alive in the set. She kept the offense together just enough to deal with Bouchard on deuce where two breaks were all it took to win and received short treatment from the physiotherapist who rubbed ice bags on her legs.
It didn’t change the fact that the Canadian served for the match and made a statement reaching three match points before a three-shot rally ended Ozaki’s run and a major comeback for Bouchard ending 1 hour and 48 minutes. The rally to improve the first serve was a success winning 78 percent of her shots and increasing the winners that did enough to keep her on the mark. The 41 unforced errors were going to have to get smaller as she went into Thursday’s second round. She’ll take on the winner between Annika Beck and Anastasija Sevastova.
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