Eugenie Bouchard put a long losing streak behind her at the Credit One Bank Invitational Thursday night. The 26-year-old fought hard through every point with teenage sensation
Leylah Fernandez winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 at Volvo Car Stadium at the Family Circle Tennis Center. The much-needed victory gave Team Peace a six-all tie on Day Four of action.
The two Canadians met for the first and with the opportunity to play tennis, the two were committed to being on the court. Bouchard hadn’t played since her Newport Beach exit in the opening round and knew that no matter what the situation, she had to put together a strong output in returning to action. Fernandez recently finished the Grand Slam Tennis Tours Matchplay and won three out of five. With her fourth in a row coming at Charleston, the 17-year-old looked to keep the winning streak going.
She opened the match with an impressive service game against Bouchard and kept at it on the returns. She threatened early with a breakpoint but the 26-year-old forced deuce to keep the opportunities alive to hold service. After three breaks, it was Fernandez well in control of breakpoints to achieve a 2-0 lead. The Canadian teen won a third straight before Bouchard dug in and managed to lock it down the fourth.
Despite losing out on the game streak, she picked up right where she left off, holding Bouchard to a point while serving. The 26-year-old rallied to cut into Fernandez’s lead and made a statement with a second straight win showing tremendous fight in the seventh. She leveled at four all against the 17-year-old who let a second straight game get away from here. The Canadian veteran had three break points in the eighth but unforced errors and a great net-front shot from Fernandez made it deuce instead.
Control for the lead was becoming fierce between the two as they spanned 16 minutes and went eight breaks before Bouchard was the one to break Fernandez. With the strong accomplishment, the 26-year-old finished off the 17-year-old with two set points, completing the opening set in one hour and four minutes.
Confidence grew for Bouchard who came back from the set break and held serve in the second game. She consolidated a break in the third before suffering a break back by the teen. A third consecutive break went the way of the 26-year-old to maintain the lead but danger lurked its head once more. Fernandez lurked back for the three-all score adding a fourth straight break. The fifth went to the former Wimbledon finalist who was on a mission to be the victor of the match.
She caught the edge with a terrific hold in the eighth that had Fernandez playing to survive. She gave Bouchard two early points before a double fault gave her opponent a triple match point. The 17-year-old saved two and saw deuce forced by a return from Bouchard go wide. On the second break, Bouchard saw Fernandez double fault once more before it came to an end with the Canadian veteran winning on a double fault concluding 1 hour and 58 minutes.
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