Canada's Eugenie Bouchard returns the ball to Romania's Simona Halep during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
February 19, 2019 - 6:12 AM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Canada's Eugenie Bouchard is out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The 24-year-old native of Westmount, Que., lost 7-6 (4), 6-4 to No. 3 seed Simona Halep of Romania in a second-round match on Tuesday.
The 79th-ranked Bouchard was much more competitive against the second-ranked Halep than she was in a 6-2, 6-2 loss in the second round of the Australian Open in January, with the Romanian notching two more winners and five fewer unforced errors than the former world No. 5.
Halep is now 4-1 against Bouchard lifetime, including wins in the past three matches.
Bouchard was coming off a 6-3, 6-4 win over Vera Lapko of Belarus, while Halep had a bye in the first round.
The win over Bouchard was the 200th main-draw victory for Halep in her career.
Bouchard remains alive in the doubles portion of the event. She'll team with American Sofia Kenin to face No. 6 seeds Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in a second-round match on Wednesday.
Bouchard is scheduled to return to singles action at a tournament in Acapulco, Mexico next week.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019