Eugenie Bouchard ousted from singles play by Angelique Kerber
World No. 2 overcomes slow start for straight-sets, Round 2 win over Canadian
By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports
Eugenie Bouchard's season-long struggles with consistency continued Monday at the Rio Olympics.
Second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany overcame a 4-1, first-set deficit to her Canadian opponent, winning seven straight games en route to a 6-4, 6-2 second-round victory in 81 minutes at Olympic Tennis Centre.
"Kerber was solid today," said Bouchard, of Westmount, Que. "When I tried to attack she was able to get the ball back in places that were tough to get to.
"She was like a wall."
Kerber, 28, had lost the previous three meetings to Bouchard, most recently in the second round of the Italian Open in May. It was the German's second career win in five matches versus Bouchard, both on the hard court, and first since the Round of 64 at the 2013 U.S. Open.
Kerber will face either Samantha Stosur of Australia and Misaki Doi of Japan in the third round.
The 22-year-old Bouchard, ranked 39th in the world, entered Monday's match with confidence, coming off an opening-round victory over American Sloane Stephens and flashing a wide grin prior to warmup that has been seen frequently since the start of Friday's opening ceremony.
Bouchard's chance for gold in Rio isn't done, though, as she and doubles partner Gabriela Dabrowski will face Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in the second round of doubles in what should be a challenging match. The Czech duo is coming off a win Sunday over the triple Olympic champions Serena and Venus Williams of the United States.
Early in Monday's match, Bouchard was focused, aggressive and struck the ball well while getting Kerber to move side to side. She opened with an early break in the first set but never recovered.
Unforced errors costly for Genie
From there, the world No. 2 Kerber picked up her intensity, which Bouchard didn't match, to rebound from a semifinal loss to Simona Halep at the recent Rogers Cup in Montreal. Kerber is having a brilliant season that includes winning the Australian Open and reaching the final at Wimbledon.
Trailing 4-1 in the first set, the slow-starting Kerber began moving her feet better and hitting the ball with more purpose. Bouchard, who was once able to come to the net frequently, was kept on the baseline by her opponent and the unforced errors began to mount as she finished with 36 to Kerber's 19.
Bouchard was also only good on 58 per cent of her first serves, while Kerber was successful 73 per cent of the time.
"I didn't feel good serving today," she said. "Sometimes that happens.
"I was put off a bit by the wind. And she attacked more than she did in our previous matches and, unfortunately, it worked for her. Often I felt I was controlling a point and she'd counter and put me on my heels. She's good at that."
Bouchard appeared to rush her returns to start the second set but fought back to cut a 2-0 deficit in half. But Kerber responded to the challenge of trailing love-40 in the fourth game to win it before extending her advantage to 5-1.
Despite the loss, Bouchard was pleased with her performance in singles.
"I don't think I'm that far away from her," she said. "Sometimes it's the little details that make the difference between the top players and the rest of the field."