Despite playing at a late hour, the Russian brought a quick end to Eugenie Bouchard’s run at Manolo Santana in a 6-4, 6-0 straight sets Thursday.
The win for the Canadian added more success and energy to her game having defeated Angelique Kerber with a strong first set before the world number one bowed out due to injury. Her three-match winning streak has been nothing short of beneficial for her but facing Kuznetsova would prove to be very difficult.
The world number nine has been on a rush of victories losing only two since her finals appearance at Indian Wells. Her fight against Qiang Wang Wednesday had her facing a chance to win a third straight against Bouchard. Whether she could do that depended on whether the Canadian’s game was just a fluke or the real deal of her power on the clay court.
She opened service pushing ahead of Kuznetsova but defended well to hold service on deuce. The 31-year-old put a quick start and finish to her opening game maintaining a hold on serve till she added heat to the Canadian’s returns. She reached three break points before Bouchard landed a winner on a chance of having to save a point. It didn’t turn into more than that as Kuznetsova was in control to lead.
The Russian’s ground strokes, returns and ball placement were becoming the foundation of her tactics to pick up another service hold and beat Bouchard for a 3-1 score. The margin remained small for the Canadian who held in the fifth before calling out Tomas Högstedt for a chat and some advice and how to go better against her opponent.
She stayed within a game through seven but the eighth went to Kuznetsova who took a key 5-3 hold and go for the break to gain the set. Bouchard fought for a force of deuce dictating the point to regain control of the game. A risky hold went in favor of the 23-year-old who managed to stay alive and threaten to level the set while working against Kuznetsova’s serve for the match lead.
Despite the incoming sprinkles from the sky, the Russian put together and stunning game gave very little opportunities to win the game and set in 41 minutes. The world number line was firing on all cylinders scoring more than 70 percent of points on the first and second serves. Recording 14 winners and less than five unforced errors had her on a roll to dictate the remainder of the match.
That was what went down in the first pair of games as the Russian dominated winning her third straight. She opened the second with a service hold followed by a triple break that gave her 12 consecutive points. It was a quick 3-0 rout but the rain continued to fall frustrating Bouchard who had served out game three.
With the set going sour for the Canadian, the crowd wanted nothing more than to see the 23-year-old get herself into action. Kuznetsova didn’t agree with their wishes and killed her chance to the break in the fourth scoring a winner to force deuce. It took just two breaks to save her serve and still run flawless through four games. The decision to close the roof came after the precipitation increased on court which had the attention from both players to get the conditions improved by closing the roof. After 10 minutes or more, the players resumed the set where Kuznetsova still used her strategy of beating Bouchard with shots behind her at times and forcing her to play near the baseline. The Canadian still fought with every chance she was given forcing deuce to put pressure on the Russian.
It didn’t do her much good as the unforced errors made a 0-5 score and a final chance on serve to save the set. Gaining a break was the biggest challenge and one that she could not fully overcome. A second match point attempt gave her the bagel over Bouchard ending 1 hour and 17 minutes. The quick work of gaining control and dominating from her own end allowed her to move deeper into the tournament making another semifinals appearance in three years. She’ll have a stronger challenge on her hands facing Kristina Mladenovic who has been on a tear so far during the clay court season.
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