January 16, 2014 - 7:55 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia - Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time on Friday as the 30th seed beat American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2 at the Australian Open.
Bouchard, 19, is making her main draw debut in Melbourne became the first Canadian woman to reach the round of 16 in Australia since 1999 when Maureen Drake did it.
Alexsandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., got this far at the French Open in 2009 before losing to Serena Williams.
Davis, ranked 68th on the WTA's singles list, went down in 70 minutes on the fifth day of a record heatwave with temperatures again approaching the mid-40s C.
Bouchard earned her quick win on a second match point, which she set up with a forehand winner dead in the corner after a 16-shot rally.
Bouchard ended with four aces, breaking on five of eight chances, with 18 winners and 23 unforced errors. She finished up the record-setting win as Davis sent a backhand out.
The Canadian took a 5-1 lead in the opening set but failed to serve out in the next game, with Davis climbing to 2-5. Bouchard then took the opener in the next game on a winner before taking control and running out the victory.
Bouchard's next match will be against the winner of Australian Casey Dellacqua and Zheng Jie of China.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014