Eugenie Bouchard has progressed into the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
Eugenie Bouchard has progressed into the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
Canadian wildcard Eugenie Bouchard has continued her fairytale run at the ASB Classic, defeating eighth seed Caroline Garcia 6-4 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon.
Bouchard came to the tournament as a rank outsider, after an awful 2019 season where at one stage she lost 12 consecutive first round matches.
That barren run has seen her drop out of the world's top 200 players, and she was reduced to playing second tier events on the WTA tour towards the end of last year.
But she showed plenty of fight – and ability – to beat the world No 46 in 88 minutes and advance to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.
She served well, only giving up one break, and constantly put Garcia under pressure with her searching returns.
Garcia, who was ranked No 4 in the world less than 18 months ago, would have been heavily favoured but struggled to impose herself on the match. She had to save three break points in the first game of the match, and that set a pattern.
Bouchard wasn't overly dominant, but found the right shots when it counted. She also held her nerve well. Bouchard incurred a time violation warning on set point in the first set – to her disdain – but still nailed the serve.
Both players gave up breaks in the second set but the 25-year-old Bouchard came up with the right recipe when it mattered. She dug out a superb backhand passing shot to set up match point, then converted the opportunity when Garcia sent a ground stroke long.
Earlier in the day, second seed Petra Martic crashed out of the tournament, upset by World No 60 Alize Cornet 3-6 6-4 6-4.
The World No 15 Martic had never reached the latter stages in Auckland across six previous appearances, but looked to have a great chance in 2020 after landing in the weakest quarter of the draw.
Petra Martic was beaten in the second round of the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
Things started well on Wednesday, as she was relatively untroubled in taking the first set, while the often volatile Cornet seemed to be battling some demons.
But the Frenchwoman is a talent – with three career victories over Serena Williams on her CV – and battled her way back into the match with some crisp ground strokes, moving the 1.81m Martic around the court.
She secured a break in each of the final two sets and was good enough to hang on, serving out the match in some style with three consecutive aces, after two hours and 16 minutes.
It's a considerable surprise, as Cornet was coming off a difficult 2019 season, where she finished outside the top 50 for the first time since 2011.
Cornet, who is making her first visit to Auckland in eight years, will play American world No 83 Jessica Pegula in the last eight on Friday.
