Eugenie Bouchard recorded her first Grand Slam win since the Australian Open as she beat American Alison Riske in straight sets 6-4 6-3. In a match that was important to both players considering their form, the 25th seed Bouchard emerged victorious to record her second win against Riske this year as improve her head-to-head record against the American to 4-0.
Coming into this match, Bouchard only had five wins on tour since the Australian Open and had seen her ranking tumble from five to 25 whilst Riske was also on a miserable run of four losses in a row. With both players trying to get back in form, the result meant much more than how it was achieved.
The first set was a closely fought encounter which saw five breaks of serve. Bouchard ended up taking the initiative at 5-4, breaking Riske to win and take the first set. The second set was much like the first with Bouchard breaking at a vital game at 4-3 to give the Canadian the opportunity to serve out for the match. She did this with relative ease to secure a much needed win to move into the second round.
Bouchard's path gets much easier
After a number of seeds tumbled out in a tumultuous day 1 on the women’s side, Bouchard will be relieved not only to survive the first round but to also see her draw get significantly easier. The world number 25 will face Polona Hercog in the second round after the Slovenian defeated Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas in straight sets. After the match Bouchard joked on twitter that she was more excited to be on the US Open's official snapchat rather than the win itself.
Might be more excited I'm on the @usopen Snapchat Story than my match today!
Double Act
Bouchard is set for a busy US Open as she is also competing in the women's doubles with former doubles world number 3 Elena Vesnina. As well as this she is also competing in the mixed doubles with Nick Kyrgios in what is sure to be the most anticipated doubles match up for a long time.