Eugenie Bouchard lost 7-6 (4), 6-3 to Hungary's Dalma Galfi in the first round of qualifying at the women's tennis tournament in Rome on Monday.
It was the second career match between the two players, but their first on clay. The 29-year-old Quebecer defeated Galfi 6-3, 6-2 in qualifying for the 2022 tournament in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Bouchard, who is currently ranked 233rd in the world in singles, lost to Galfi, who is ranked 91st, after one hour and 46 minutes of play.
Galfi, the seventh seed in the qualifying draw, will meet 17th-seeded American Taylor Townsend in the next round.
Elsewhere, Ontario's Katherine Sebov fell 6-4, 6-3 to Russia's Polina Kudermetova in the first round of qualifying. Kudermetova will meet 10th seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland in the second round.
Quebec's Leylah Annie Fernandez will face Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round of the main draw later this week.
Ontario's Bianca Andreescu, the 24th seed, received a bye into the second round. She will face the winner of the first round match between Estonia's Kaia Kanepi and Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 8, 2023.
