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Eugenie Bouchard didn’t have the full effect from her game to continue at the French Open Tuesday evening. Lesia Tsurenko played with a comfortable service that caused the Canadian problems and moved her into the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win on Court One at Roland Garros.
A second meeting and first in four years was the way both would start their run at the open. Both got very little time on the clay courts and would have to speed up in gears in order to dictate the game. The Canadian hadn’t played since the qualifications in Miami as she suffered an injury that kept her off the tour for almost three months. With improvements made and her game warmed up in practice, Bouchard looked to even the series with the Ukrainian and move into the second round in her sixth appearance.
Tsurenko earned the opportunity to serve first and gave away very little to Bouchard in the opening game. When she got to serve, Bouchard double-faulted twice, handing Tsurenko three break points. Her shot to blank the Canadian fell silent on a shot long of the line but she got the win with a good crosscourt return. The third went awry after scoring an ace in the third with Bouchard trailing 15-40. Her ability to recover resulted in forcing deuce before reeling in the game to lead 3-0.
Bouchard got on the board with good court positioning and pressure to hold serve against the Ukrainian. When it looked as if she’d have a chance to consolidate the hold with a break, the Ukrainian quickly denied her that opportunity on deuce, securing the AD point to open back the gap on the Canadian. Bouchard gained another one on serve but the deficit was too much to recover from and Tsurenko won the point. She returned to serve well in the sixth before breaking the 25-year-old to love for the victory, ending the set in 28 minutes.
The success nearly got away from Tsurenko as she handed Bouchard three break points to try to put the game away. The Ukrainian played every point to force deuce and hold serve, scoring the AD point. She redeemed herself by breaking Bouchard in the second where the Canadian saw not one point won on serve.
Another opportunity came to her in the third to accomplish a break back of Tsurenko but the 29-year-old made her move to avoid losing ground. It was stopped during the game point where Bouchard stayed focused and laid down a terrific forehand shot to clinch the break.
A hold of serve for Bouchard leveled her at two apiece which energized the crowd and vice-versa making it a good run in the set for both. Tsurenko easily held serve in the fifth but the next game became a real fight for control. Bouchard thought she had a handle on her service game but a challenge from the Ukrainian sent them to deuce. After five breaks, the 29-year-old got a grip on the AD point and gained a 4-2 stand over Bouchard.
Consolidating the break was key for Tsurenko which she accomplished in the seventh with a strong service game that kept Bouchard from countering. The Canadian found herself on the edge of a straight-sets defeat serving to play on. Good net front response by the Ukrainian put Bouchard under pressure but she found a way to get to deuce. It wouldn’t be enough as Tsurenko gained the first AD point and won it on a timed shot from the Canadian that did not come off well and landed wide to end the game after one hour and eight minutes.
With a comfortable start to the tournament, the soon to be 30-year-old has her eyes set on a birthday match that would come against either Daria Gavrilova or Aleksandra Krunic in the second round.
