Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard advances to second round at Madrid Open

MADRID – Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard downed Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to the second round of the Madrid Open clay-court tennis tournament.

Bouchard won 75 per cent of her first serves and was successful on eight of 21 break point opportunities.

The 29-year-old Bouchard, who beat American Elizabeth Mandlik in a Tuesday qualifier, is playing in her first main-draw WTA Tour 1000 berth without the benefit of a wild card in more than four years.

She will next face the 18th-seeded Martina Trevisan of Italy on Friday.

Also Wednesday, Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Que., was bounced from the tournament following a 6-3, 6-4 loss to 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the first round.

The Russian teen, ranked 194th in the world, needed just one hour 16 minutes to upset the 49th-ranked Fernandez.

It was the first time Andreeva played a top-50 opponent, though she had already earned impressive results this year. Her first main-draw victory extended her unbeaten pro record in 2023 to 14-0 and she was coming off two consecutive ITF W60 titles.

Andreeva’s second-round opponent will be 13th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.