Bouchard Continues Strong 2014 With Win in Portugal
The Portugal Open kicked off in Oeiras, Portugal on Tuesday as the WTA continued its European clay court season. Canadian Eugenie Bouchard picked up her first victory of the clay court season as she knocked off Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
The second-seeded Bouchard, who is just 20-years old, has been one of the surprises of the early 2014 season as she has climbed up the rankings to her current spot of 18th in the WTA Women’s Singles Rankings. The first-round matchup was her first match in Europe this season and she cruised past Kleybanova into the second round where she will face Yaroslava Shvedova.
Kleybanova had reached the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix Open in Stuttgart, Germany last week, and the fresh legs of Bouchard became evident early on in the contest. The Canadian took control of the match early, jumping out to a good start in the first set.
She was able to break Kleybanova’s serve early in the first set, and did so four more times throughout the match as she controlled it throughout. After capturing the first set 6-4, she never looked back and moved onto the second round of the Portugal Open.
In other action in Portugal, Czech Republic native Lucie Safarova, who gave Maria Sharapova a strong match in Stuttgart, came back to defeat Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in three sets. Safarova dropped the first set 4-6, but did not lose another game as she cruised in both the second and third sets 6-0 to move herself into the second round.
