There is no question that all of Canada will be pulling for Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic to start off the 2015 Grand Slam Season in style with a strong showing at the Australian Open. While both have rather high expectations for themselves, the pressure to go deep into the second week of the year’s first major is very real.
With that said, neither one had much in the way of trouble in advancing to the second round with a pair of straight set victories. While Bouchard needed all of seventy-eight minutes to get past Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 6-4 during opening night action, Raonic was forced to work a little harder before dismissing Illya Marchenko 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 on Day Two of competition.
Coming back to Melbourne must have felt like a homecoming of sorts for Bouchard, as this was the very spot which kick-started what turned out to be a truly magical 2014 campaign for the native of Westmount, Quebec.
While there is no question the Aussie faithful instantly fell in love with the Canadian darling, something tells me the No. 7 seed was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reconnect with the always boisterous “Genie Army”.
After struggling with her form to closeout 2014 and parting ways with her long-time coach Nick Saviano during the off-season, many were curious to see how Bouchard would respond to the pressure that comes with the expectations of not only winning matches but possibly the first grand slam of her still young career.
It may have only been one match but a hard fought straight sets victory was arguably exactly what the doctor ordered. It was far from a perfect performance but for the first time in ages, Bouchard was able to use her punishing ground strokes to her advantage and push her opponent around the court.
The seemingly countless unforced errors that had crept into her game since reaching the Wimbledon Final, were not nearly so frequent and not surprisingly, she was far too much for the German youngster to handle. While her second serve still remains a concern, Bouchard’s first serve was fairly effective…especially when she really needed it.
Despite having the more difficult time of the two during their opening round matches, it was Raonic who looked as cool and confident as ever. Marchenko did extremely well to stay with the hard-serving Canadian through the opening two sets but the No. 8 seed elevated his game in both tie-breakers and there was absolutely nothing his opponent could do to slow him down.
While Raonic almost never loses to players beneath him in the rankings, there are times when the twenty-four year old has seemed vulnerable in such matches. Today was certainly not one of those days. It may have been close on the scoreboard but at no point did the Canadian No.1 appear to be the least bit concerned about his predicament.
Considering the six-time ATP Tour winner is coming off what was by far and away the finest season of his career and arguably the best match he has ever played in falling to Roger Federer in the finale of the 2015 Brisbane International , confidence is clearly not an issue.
