Bouchard fells crafty opponent, advances to second round at Wimebledon

Eugenie Bouchard needed just 47 minutes to dispatch Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 7-5 and advance to the second round at Wimbledon Monday.

Bouchard swatted four aces and had a top serve speed of 108 mph, although she only got 63 percent of her serves in, against 76 percent for her Slovakian opponent.

The 31-year-old Hantuchova now ranked 34 - down from her career-best fifth ranking - had never faced Bouchard on the professional level.

Bouchard came from 3-1 down in the first set, which she won on a correct line call challenge.

"I expected a tough match, and it was a tough one," said Bouchard, who advanced to the semifinals of the season's previous two Grand Slams. "I definitely feel like I didn't play my best most of the match, but competed when it counted, raised my level at some big points.

"I felt like I was a bit inconsistent. I didn't take the ball as early as I would have liked to. I felt myself more on defence more often than I'd like to be. The first match of a tournament, especially a Grand Slam, is always a bit nervy. I think there was a bit of nervous tennis out there."

Meanwhile, the 85th-ranked Fichman admitted she was outplayed.

"I'm starting to like the grass," said the 23-year-old, who was making her main draw debut at the All England Club. "Unfortunately I didn't plays as well as I could have.

"It didn't help that my opponent was playing very well, It's disappointing. I felt like I didn't bring a good enough level for most of the match and she did. It was pretty straightforward -- she played well and went for it, I tried and it just didn't work for me today."

Bouchard will next face Silvia Soler-Espinosa, world ranked 75th, who cruised over the Belorussian Olga Govortsova, ranked 105, in straight sets Monday.

Last year Bouchard beat Ana Ivanovic in the second round before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro at Wimbledon.

Bouchard is the only woman to make the semi-finals of both Grand Slam events this season.

Fellow Canadians Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic also advanced, while Sharon Fichman of Toronto lost in straight sets. 

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  Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia serves to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada during their first round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)