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Bouchard beats Safarova in 3 sets at Rogers Cup
- Updated: July 27, 2016
9:57 PM ET
MONTREAL — Eugenie Bouchard reconnected with her hometown fans with an impressive first-round victory at the women’s Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
A large crowd at Uniprix Stadium was solidly behind the Westmount, Quebec, native throughout her 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Lucie Safarova, the pre-match favorite ranked 28th in the world to Bouchard’s 41st.
They roared as Bouchard came back from a 3-1 deficit in the tiebreaker with six straight points, taking the win on Safarova’s 10th double fault of the match.
Bouchard has faced criticism, mostly to do with losing touch with her home fan base since her spectacular 2014 season when she reached the Wimbledon final and rose to No. 5 in the world.
It did not go over well last week when, after losing her first match in Washington, D.C., she talked about visiting museums in the U.S. capital rather than go home to the “craziness” in Montreal.
Bouchard had a change of heart because she not only headed north right away, but participated in off-court events with fans and ended uncertainty over her Olympic plans by saying she will represent Canada in Rio de Janeiro.
Then she pulled off a thrilling and unexpected win on center court.
Bouchard dominated the opening set, completing her second service break with a pinpoint backhand down the line, only to see Safarova find her service range and rally in the second.
They held serve through the third, although Bouchard let three match points slip away while leading 6-5, 40-0, giving Safarova momentum going into the tiebreaker.
Bouchard will next face …
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