Eugenie Bouchard showed signs that her game was alive, but her consistency was missing at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open Tuesday. Arianne Hartono had her issues as well but came out the victor in a 6-2, 6-2 score on center court at the Hollyburn Country Club.
This was the first singles match for the Canadian since March 17, 2021, when she suffered a shoulder injury and struggled to get back into action. After coming short of readiness for the Citi Open, Bouchard committed to Vancouver and did well in doubles Monday. Though she hasn’t faced Hartono before, it was a perfect opponent to face in her journey to come back.
The Canadian brushed off the rust, going to deuce with Hartono before finding her way to holding serve. The Dutch player found her points in the second but faced a new gear in Bouchard. The 28-year-old blanked Hartono, only to watch her opponent level right back in the fourth. The 26-year-old consolidated with a break to love of Bouchard, in hopes that she could keep the superstar behind.
Errors from Bouchard’s returns helped get the Dutch player a two-game buffer, but in the seventh, the 28-year-old brought the defense to her service. A pair of double faults awarded Hartono a chance to break Bouchard, but the challenge was alive in the Canadian. She produced three AD points but converted none.
Once Hartono got her chance, she took the break on the fourth break, sitting pretty to serve for the match. The Dutch star served up a shutout to Bouchard, completing perfect first serve points run of the first in 30 minutes. Bouchard’s second serve didn’t come in to assist well and produced no breakpoints. With the right shoulder not at 100%, the Canadian would continue to struggle to get her shots in check.
It left Hartono to dictate onward, breaking her opponent to begin the second set. She backed up the early lead to make it 2-0 on Bouchard, but it wasn’t going the way of a shutout. Pulling it all together, the Canadian overcame losing the first two points on serve and won the next pair. Hartono erred late in the fourth, opening the door for Bouchard to fight for the breaks. Despite only getting one, she went three with the Dutch star before going down.
The 26-year-old added another break to her day against Bouchard, sitting three games ahead and the match in sight. Before she could do that, Bouchard etched a win for herself on errors from Hartono that included a double fault at the end. The Dutch star redeemed herself with a break back, setting up a chance to end her day on the court.
On serve for a spot in round two, Hartono fell behind in scoring, only to paint the lines for match point. A double fault forced deuce for Bouchard, who battled through two breaks until an easy smash went right into the net. On her third try, Hartono got it done with a line drive winner away from Bouchard to cap the victory in 1 hour and 10 minutes.
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