Eugenie Bouchard advances to qualifier final at Australian Open
The 25-year-old made the Australian Open semifinals in 2014 at the peak of her career
Canada's Eugenie Bouchard is one win away from getting back into the main draw at the Australian Open.
Bouchard, of Westmount, Que., downed Maddison Inglis of Australia in a second-round qualifying match on Thursday to advance.
Bouchard, ranked No. 211, beat her 130th-ranked opponent 6-3, 6-1 — needing only 62 minutes to take the match and put herself in the qualifier finals.
The 25-year-old made the Australian Open semifinals in 2014 at the peak of her career.
Earlier, Canada's Leylah Annie Fernandez toppled Romania's Patricia Maria Tig 6-2, 6-3 in a first-round qualifier that originally began a day earlier.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., was leading Tig 6-2, 4-1 when play was suspended on Wednesday because of rain.
The two returned to the court and Fernandez closed the win in one hour 24 minutes.
Meanwhile, Canadian Peter Polansky made a quick exit in qualifying.
Polansky, from Thornhill, Ont., was ousted by France's Alexandre Muller in a first-round qualifier 6-1, 6-2.
Muller only needed 54 minutes to win the match that was also orginally scheduled for Wednesday but washed out.
Players need to win three qualifying matches to guarantee a spot in the main draw.
No Canadian women have spots in the main draw after reigning U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., dropped out because of a knee injury.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil have spots in the men's main draw.
Canadians Steven Diez, from Toronto, and Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., won their first-round qualifying matches on Wednesday.