Eugenie Bouchard wins Olympic opener, Pospisil ousted
Canadian nearly error-free in Olympic debut
By Joe Pack, CBC Sports
Canada's Eugenie Bouchard defeated American Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Olympic women's singles tennis tournament Saturday.
The Montreal native looked focused in her convincing victory, making few errors and converting on second-serve and break-point opportunities.
Bouchard, 22, was making her Olympic debut in a season in which she holds a record of 26-17 in singles matches. She was assertive early in the match, dictating play while building up 3-0 and 4-1 leads in the first set, which she won in 32 minutes.
It is a small court Eugenie is playing on but it is standing room only.. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/superstar?src=hash">#superstar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOlympics">@CBCOlympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/kUUus8sUvM">pic.twitter.com/kUUus8sUvM</a>
—@marktewksStephens, meanwhile, had difficulty finding a rhythm and seemed to struggle in keeping up with Bouchard's pace. The American committed five unforced errors and was unable to break Bouchard's serve.
Building confidence
In the midst of an up-and-down season for Bouchard — one in which she lost in the third round of the Rogers Cup — the Canadian performed strongly, committing only two unforced errors. Her 67 per cent conversion rate on second serves was in stark contrast to Stephens's 42 per cent.
Stephens had clear difficulty in getting her feet set on baseline shots, leading to several of her errors.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash">#CAN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/geniebouchard">@geniebouchard</a> on a winning end of a rally in the 2nd set at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rio2016?src=hash">#Rio2016</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y69B743SBc">https://t.co/Y69B743SBc</a> <a href="https://t.co/H2pmO4Dnth">https://t.co/H2pmO4Dnth</a>
—@CBCOlympicsBouchard and Stephens have known each other since the Canadian was just 12 years old. The two once shared a coach in Nick Saviano who is not in Rio for the Games.
The Canadian will next face either second-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany or Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino. Kerber and Duque-Marino are set to play on Sunday in their first-round matchup.
.<a href="https://twitter.com/DSauve_rc">@DSauve_rc</a> interviews 🇨🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/geniebouchard">@geniebouchard</a> after her straight sets win at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rio2016?src=hash">#Rio2016</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y69B743SBc">https://t.co/Y69B743SBc</a> <a href="https://t.co/f0VpawlWB9">https://t.co/f0VpawlWB9</a>
—@CBCOlympicsPospisil falls to Monfils
Gael Monfils of France ousted Canadian Vasek Pospisil in straight sets, 6-1,6-3 in men's singles action.
The Frenchman put on a show, extending rallies and exciting the crowd at centre court of Rio's Olympic Tennis Center.
Monfils, who also eliminated Pospisil at the Rogers Cup in Toronto just over a week ago, will face the winner of Italy's Thomas Fabbiano and and Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second round.
Pospisil will have turn to doubles in order to win an Olympic medal. He and Daniel Nestor will play Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus on Sunday.