Canada's Bouchard finally finds rhythm to book Eastbourne win

Eugenie Bouchard won only her second match since mid-March after struggling to find form, earning a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 defeat of Alison Riske on Tuesday at the Eastbourne International.

The former top 10 player, now ranked 12th, at 2-10 over her last dozen matches as the form which took the 21-year-old to the Wimbledon title match, as well as Australian Open and Roland Garros semi-finals in 2014, disappeared in 2015.

Bouchard's second-round victory in one hour 40 minutes was her first on grass this season and could not have come at a better time, with Wimbledon starting in six days.

"It's good to finally get a win," said Bouchard, who was helped by two aces in the final game as she closed out the 42nd-ranked Riske, to take a 3-0 lead in that series at the WTA level.

"I had to try and stay with her, she was playing well.
"I tried to stay calm at the end, enjoy the moment. I've really had some ups and downs this season.

"I've learned a lot about tennis, myself and life as a result."

The seventh seed will wait for a third-round opponent from Swiss teen Belinda Bencic and 2014 titleholder Madison Keys, seeded 12th.

Bouchard is making her Eastbourne main draw debut after falling out of qualifying two years ago.

Two other seeds met upset fates in the second round, with Briton Johanna Konta extending her hometown win streak with a knockout of Russian fourth seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-4.

"It's important for me not to treat it differently, I do believe very much so that I do need to approach every match exactly the same with my same intentions and personal goals," said the number 146 wild card.
"I'm just happy that I was able to do that today and I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to be able to do that again."

American Sloane Stephens eliminated Spanish clay ace Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded fifth, 6-1, 7-5. Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova beat Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-4, 7-5 and German tenth seed Andrea Petkovic beat Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-4 to level her summer grass record at 1-1.
Source: AFP