Westmount's Eugenie Bouchard has moved to the quarterfinals of her third straight major by beating France's Alize Cornet 7-6 (5), 7-5 at Wimbledon Monday.
Bouchard took the first set in a 7-5 tie-breaker in spite of losing four straight points until her opponent Cornet opened the door with a failed drop shot, after which Bouchard cruised through to take the first set.
Cornet looked poised to take the second set, winning the first break of serve of the match in the fifth game. But Bouchard broke while down 4-5 to get back on serve. Bouchard held and took the match with another break to win the set 7-5 and the match 2-0.
"I’m really excited, I’m proud of the way I fought out there today it wasn’t easy. Alize is a very good player," Bouchard told a BBC reporter following her victory.
Cornet appeared frustrated at times, muttering under her breath, tossing her racket and even appearing distraught when the rain delay was called and the roof pulled over the rainy sky, making for a warmer-than-usual Wimbledon experience.
Bouchard hit 28 winners and made 24 unforced errors, while Cornet hit 20 winner and made 14 unforced errors.
Cornet got 66 percent of her first serves in, versus 64 percent for Bouchard who served slightly harder than her French opponent with a 101 mph average first serve, versus 98 mph for Cornet.
Bouchard, who was named after one of the daughters of Prince Andrew, was scrutinized by a crowd that included members of the British royal family.
Bouchard will now face either Angelique Kerber or Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
The 20-year-old, 13th world-ranked, Bouchard advanced to the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year.
With the victory, Bouchard becomes the first Canadian-ever to advance to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon during the open era.
