Perfect US Open start for Ivanovic and Bouchard

Dave James 06:48 27/08/2014
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  • Getting her groove back: Ivanovic continued her good form by defeating Alison Riske yesterday.

    Eugenie Bouchard and Ana Ivanovic eased into the US Open second round last night with clinical wins.

    Canadian seventh seed Bouchard, the Wimbledon runnerup, eased past Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2, 6-1, slamming the brakes on her post-All England Club slump which had brought her just one win coming into New York.

    Bouchard is one of four Canadians in the main draw this year, the most since 1989, and is aiming to keep up her record of having made at least the semi-finals at all the majors in 2014.

    Former French Open champion Ivanovic, the eighth seed, eased past Alison Riske of the United States, 6-3, 6-0 in a tie which featured eight breaks of serve.

    It was a performance which suggested the Serb is getting back close to her best in a year which has seen her beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open fourth round, claim three titles and return to the world’s top 10 for the first time in five years.

    “Last year has been an amazing change for me. I learned a lot about myself, about my goals, who I am as a person and who I want to be,” said Ivanovic, a US Open quarterfinalist in 2012.

    Also, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova breezed into the second round with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kristina Mladenovic.

    The third-seeded Czech didn’t surrender a service break in the 54-minute contest, breaking France’s 73rd-ranked Mladenovic five times.

    Australia’s Samantha Stosur, the 2011 champion, went through with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Lauren Davies of the United States, firmly erasing the nightmare of her 2013 first round exit to US teenager Victoria Duval.

    However, another former champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 winner was dumped out 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) by New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic who won her first US Open match at the fifth time of asking.

    China’s Zhang Shuai can only dream of the success achieved by the likes of Williams, Ivanovic and Stosur.

    The 32nd seed lost 6-1, 6-2 to Germany’s Mona Barthel leaving her with a 0-12 career record at the Grand Slams.

    There was a minor psychological victory for 32-year-old Italian Paolo Lorenzi whose win against Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka was his first at the grand slam level after 13 losses.

    In early men’s action, John Isner, the highest-seeded American at 13 and who is hoping to be his country’s first major winner since Andy Roddick at the US Open in 2003, saw off compatriot Marcos Giron 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).

    Japanese 10th seed Kei Nishikori, a first round loser in 2013, went through by beating America’s Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

    However, the most impressive victory was by 17-year-old Croatian, Borna Coric, the 2013 junior champion, who marked his Grand Slam debut by beating Czech 29th seed Lukas Rosol, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

    Coric, ranked at 204 and who qualified for the tournament, goes on to face 34-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos who is making his US Open debut and is the first player from the Dominican Republic to feature at a major.

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