Kristina Kucova pulled off the upset over the locals' favorite, Eugenie Bouchard at the Coupe Rogers. The Canadian started playing great tennis but after losing her lead in the second set, Bouchard couldn’t find her way back into the match. The 121st ranked player came from the qualifiers and after this win, she has booked her first WTA Premier event quarterfinal. The Slovak won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and sixteen minutes.
A dominant Bouchard takes the opener
Continuing her great form, Bouchard held her serve without any complications. Kucova then had to go through a long game of serve only to be broken after the Canadian hit a forehand winner, getting this way the early lead. Back on serve, Bouchard thought she had won the game but a challenge made by Kucova forced her to continue.
After missing an amazing 21-shot rally, Bouchard held her nerve and won the game to extend her lead to 3-0. The Canadian quickly raced to get three break points, but the Slovak saved two and thanks to a missed volley from Bouchard was able to force a deuce. However, Bouchard remained strong and got a second break to be up 4-0.
In a very erratic game, Bouchard had to face three break points and managed to save one but a forehand unforced error gave one break back to the Slovak. Kucova then had to go through a lengthy service game to hold her own serve for the first time in the match and be 2-4. As her opponent was getting more confident, Bouchard could feel the pressure building up but she shook away that pressure hitting an ace to be up 5-4.
On Kucova’s serve, the Canadian had five set points but was unable to convert them as the Slovak held to be 3-5. After a great start, Bouchard then made some mistakes and had to overcome three break points in a very dramatic game to secure the first set after 49 minutes.
Kucova breaks at the perfect time and forces a decider
Kucova faced a break point but was able to save it to hold her serve. The Canadian did the same and leveled up to 1-1. Showing a huge improvement from the first set, Kucova seemed more confident, fighting every point to hold and be up 2-1. After a solid hold, Bouchard would get herself three break points and this time, she didn’t waste any opportunity and grab the break after hitting a cross-court forehand to lead 3-2.
Her lead didn’t last long as Bouchard was broken immediately after wasting opportunities. Bouchard started the following game playing very aggressively but her opponent quickly turned things around, but the Canadian wasn’t going to give up that easily. In the longest game of the match, Bouchard couldn’t consolidate four breaks point, but on the fifth, the Canadian hit a smash that helped her redeem herself and be again a break up.
After that tough game, Bouchard expected to have an easy hold but it wasn’t like that as the Canadian had several chances to close the game and even saved two break points, however, the Slovak was not going anywhere and put on more pressure that eventually granted her the break to level things up at 4-4. Getting that break back was a boost of confidence for the Slovak who for the first time in the match held to love, leading 5-4. Kucova quickly made her way to get three set points on Bouchard’s serve and after a wide forehand, the Slovak won the second set 6-4 to force into a decider.
Bouchard can't keep the same level and goes out of the Rogers Cup
After winning that second set, Kucova started the deciding set with a hold. After a brilliant first set and not bad a second set, the Canadian seemed to be losing confidence after that last game in the past set. However, despite not the best service game Bouchard was able to overcome three break points and leveled the scoreboard to 1-1. Now it was time for Kucova to struggle with her serve as she had to save two break points to keep her serve and be up 2-1. Even though she had wasted so many chances in the previous game that didn’t affect the Canadian who had a solid hold to equalize the match to 2-2.
The Slovak followed the same path and held her serve to lead 3-2 and leaving more pressure for Bouchard who had to hold to catch up. An erratic game from Bouchard handed the first break of the set to Kucova who now lead 3-2. The Slovak was now dominating the match as she was on her way to create another upset, holding her serve to be up 5-2. What seemed to be an easy game of serve turned out to be a little bit more complicated but Bouchard managed to pull that out and hold to shorten the gap to 3-5. Three unforced errors from the Canadian confirmed the upset by the Slovak who came from the qualifier and it’s through her first quarterfinal of a WTA premier event.
Next for Kucova
In the next round, Kucova will face the fifteen seed, Johanna Konta. This will be the first match between these players.
