Bouchard breezes by Tomova into Istanbul second round

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Qualifier Eugenie Bouchard showed her pedigree as she moved past Viktoriya Tomova into the second round of the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul, claiming a 96-minute victory, 6-2, 6-4.

The Canadian, who beat Ivana Jorovic and Leonie Kung to reach the main draw, recorded some encouraging serving numbers as she made 70% of her first deliveries and hit three aces. But it was her play when her opponent had the balls in hand that held the key to the match as she won 37 of 63 points on the Tomova serve.

Bouchard started the encounter rapidly, winning five of the first six games on route to the opening set before edging the second, in which there were five breaks.

The WTA World No.272 made clear her intent in the opening game of the match as she rattled off four straight points to break, and after saving three break points on her own delivery in the subsequent came continued to pound the Tomova serve as she again broke to love.

The Bulgarian 25-year-old got on the board in the following game as Bouchard was unable to save a fourth break point, but her dominance was rapidly reasserted with a third successive break, this time allowing Tomova to reach 15.

Once the first set was close out following two holds after 34 minutes, Bouchard continued to dominate as she broke in the opening game of the second.

This frame, though, was to prove altogether more competitive. Tomova successfully hit back immediately then saved a break point to go ahead in a set for the first time. 

Neither player looked comfortable on serve at this point and a run of three successive breaks saw the 26-year-old once again take the upper hand. 

This time she was not to be shaken, holding to 15 and then following two deuces to claim victory on her second match point.

She will face No.1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last 16.

Elsewhere, No.6 seed Alison Van Uytvanck overcame Viktoria Kuzmova and No.8 seed Misaki Doi edged qualifier Ellen Perez, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1.