Eugenie Bouchard was a high profile casualty in the first round of the Miami Masters. The Canadian was beaten by young Australian Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Barty had led by a set and then by a break in the third. Bouchard fought back level but immediately surrendered another break for 3-4, and the former Wimbledon runner-up could not recover the deficit again. Barty’s hold from 15-40 in game eight was crucial, as she then went on to break to love in the final game of the match. The roller coaster match was marred by a total of 95 unforced errors (55 from Bouchard and 40 from Barty).
“It was a little bit scratchy today, but I’m just happy to come through in the end.” Said Barty.
Barty, who recently won her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open, will next play compatriot Samantha Stosur in what will be their first tour meeting. Stosur is the 14th seed in the tournament.
“It will be nice to play Sam, we practice a lot together in the past, but have never played each other.” The world No.91 explained. “I’m going to have to be very aggressive off returns and take the serve away from her.”
A former World No.1 was also on the losing side of the scoreboard, as Jelena Jankovic was beaten by Yaroslava Shvedeova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6. The Kazak player was forced to save a match point in the decider before prevailing.
“It was an amazing match, a battle there on-court,” Shvedova told WTA Insider. “Jelena is a great opponent, a tough opponent, and I’m happy I could manage to play well, relax and enjoy it, which I was missing a little bit for the beginning of the year.”
Lucie Safarova, normally accustomed to seedings in events such as these, won her first round match. The Russian defeated Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 6-4.
It was a good day for wildcards in the Miami Open on Wednesday, as four of the five wildcards that took to the court in the early matches won their opening round fixtures.
Patricia Maria Tigs’ win meant that Heather Watson is out, as the Romanian beat the Briton 7-6, 6-1. Tig, whose ranking actually sits thirteen places higher than Watson’s this week, dropped just two points on her first serve in the second set, and broke the 24 year-old twice to ease through after a tight opening set.
She is joined by Jana Cepelova, who defeated former Top 10 player Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4. Petkovic’s ranking is now down at No.76 this week, after having previously been ranked No.9 in 2011.
Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg also moved through, defeating Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-4. Home player Madison Brengle was the fourth successful qualifier, edging Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a match lasting two hours.
Other results saw Christina McHale defeat Andrea Beck 6-7, 7-5, 6-0, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands win against Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands is a wildcard entry in this year’s event.
Donna Vekic was the only qualifier to lose in the women’s draw. The Croatian was beaten 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Qiang Wang.
