Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, China

[CR9] Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) had no interest in being amongst the fallen seeds and brought her full arsenal against [CR21] Alize Cornet (FRA).  Bouchard plays attacking tennis, taking the ball early and hitting with pace, she robs her opponents of time and then she finishes her shots off at net.  She almost executed her game flawlessly today against Cornet.

Cornet’s ability to change the pace of her shots gives her time to execute her delicate drop shots or to hit an angled winner with pace.  Today the depth and pace of Bouchards’s shot blunted Cornet’s ability to play her finesse game. She is capable of competing with the best and has demonstrated this by her wins over top ten players; however, she waited too long to become engaged in the match.  Although she would push Bouchard in the second set, it was not enough to create the upset, and she lost 3-6, 5-7.

Bouchard seems to be getting back to the form that saw her go all the way to her first major final at Wimbledon and made her a top ten player.  She still made a few too many forehand errors and lost her focus in the second as she was serving for the match; however, her recent demeanor of apathy was missing and she was fully committed in the match.