By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 11, 2016
Eugenie Bouchard notched her first career Top-2 win on Wednesday at Foro Italico.
Photo Source: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty
Eugenie Bouchard battled past Angelique Kerber to notch her first career Top-2 win on Wednesday in Rome, scoring a hard-fought 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 win that sets up a third-round matchup with Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.
Bouchard battled back from a break down in the third set and later broke for a 6-5 lead before serving the match out to achieve her third career win over Kerber in four tries. The Canadian held a 6-1, 3-0 lead early in the second set before the ever resilient Kerber rallied to bring on the drama.
Bouchard improves to 18-9 on the season with the victory, which gives her six more wins than she earned over the course of a turbulent 2015.
The world No. 46 is into the round of 16 at Rome for the second consecutive year. She achieved her first Top-10 win since 2014.
Kerber has now lost two straight after winning the Stuttgart title. She fell to Barbora Strycova in the first round at Madrid last week.
Bouchard wasn’t the only one pulling the upset on Wednesday in Rome. Earlier Irina-Camelia Begu knocked off Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, while American Christina McHale defeated Ana Ivanovic in three.