Eugenie Bouchard cruised past Australian wildcard Abbie Myers 6-2 6-3 with six breaks of serve after 74 minutes to reach the second round at the Australian Open qualifying in Dubai.
Bouchard will need two more wins to secure her spot in the Australian Open main draw. The 16 qualifiers from this week’s tournament in Dubai will travel to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2021 season.
Bouchard reached the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career at the 2014 Australian Open and went on to reach her second semifinal at Roland Garros and the final at Wimbledon later that year.
Bouchard is joined by number 1 seed Kaja Juvan from Slovenia and number 3 Greet Minnen from Belgium as Day 2 winners of the Australian Open qualifying round.
Juvan won 82 % of her first serve points in her 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win over Australian wildcard Storm Sanders after 83 minutes. The Slovenian player pushed Serena Williams to three sets in the second round at Wimbledon in 2019 and reached the second round at Roland Garros and the US Open in 2020.
Minnen beat Alexandra Bozovic 6-3 6-4 in 1 hour and 15 minutes. The Belgian player made her main draw debut at the Australian Open.
Two-time Grand Slam Junior doubles champion Caty McNally cruised past 2019 Wimbledon junior singles champion Daria Snigur 6-3 6-1.
“I have never been to Dubai before, but I have always dreamed of coming here, not necessarily for the Australian Open qualifiers. Honestly, I am just happy to be back, to be playing, and it just feels good after not playing for a couple of months, because of the break, to be back doing what I love. Snigur is honestly a really tough opponent, you never know what you are going to get with her”, said McNally.
Former Australian Open Junior semifinalist Elisabetta Cocciaretto from Italy eased past world number 239 Gabriela Cé from Brazil 6-3 6-1. Another Italian player Giulia Gatto Monticone defeated world number 251 Valentina Ivakhnenko from Russia 6-2 6-3.
Former top 20 player Mihaela Buzarnescu edged Lara Arruabarrena 6-3 6-4.
Lesla Tsurenko came back from one set point to beat Australia’s Ivana Popovic 2-6 6-2 6-2.
Germany’s Katharina Gerlach beat Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 6-3 6-4. Eyppt’s Mayar Sherif cruised past Akiko Osmae 6-0 6-1 in just 50 minutes.
