September 09, 2020 - 6:52 AM
ISTANBUL - Canadian qualifier Eugenie Bouchard has advanced to the second round of the Istanbul Tennis Championship.
Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., beat world No. 133 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday at the WTA Tour clay-court event.
The 26-year-old Bouchard, ranked 272nd, broke Tomova six times. Neither player was particularly effective with serve, but Bouchard had better percentages on points won on first serve (55.8-38.1) and second serve (61.1-47.6).
Bouchard, who got into the main draw by winning two qualifying matches, will next face top seed and world No. 34 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Kuznetsova is 3-0 lifetime against Bouchard.
A former world No. 5, Bouchard now has to qualify for most events on the top tour.
If she loses her next match, Bouchard is projected to rise to No. 239 in next week's rankings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2020.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An incorrected date appeared in a previous version.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020