Venus Williams, Eugenie Bouchard KO'd Out Of Montreal; Russians Rise Up As A New Champion Will Be Crowned
by Staff | July 29th, 2016, 1:26 am
Top attraction Venus Williams and Eugenie Bouchard were bounced from the Canadian Open Montreal Thursday.
A day after failing to serve at full power, Venus succumbed to 21-year-old Madison Keys but not without a fight. After looking like it was going to a blowout with Keys up 6-1, 3-1, Venus fought back to take the second but it wasn't enough against the hungry youngster who won the match 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-3.
"Her first serve was definitely slower than normal," Keys said. "But it was funny, her second serve was a lot slower, but because of the court it was bouncing a lot higher than normal. So while her first serve was a little easier to return, her second serve was really tough."
Keys will now meet Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who stunned 2014 champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1.
"It's going to be a tough match," Keys said the Russian. "She's always tricky because she definitely fights till the end and she's going to hit a lot of winners.
"I think it will be similar to today, you know, kind of deciding when to just get the ball back in a good, neutral spot, or when to kind of pull the trigger and be a little bit more aggressive."
Montreal favorite Bouchard couldn't keep it together in the evening falling to 121st ranked Kristina Kucova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Kucova will now face Stanford winner Johanna Konta.
Earlier, Australian Open champion and No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber edged Elina Svitolina 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. Svitolina twice served for the match in the second but failed.
"I think the match was a little bit crazy," Kerber said. "Actually the whole match was a lot of up and downs.
"For sure I'm not happy about my game, how I was playing, because I really not playing my best tennis today," she said. "It's like more I'm happy that I won the match. I don't know how. It was a crazy match.
"But it's good to be still in the tournament, still have the chance tomorrow. The next challenge, the next match, trying to play a better tennis tomorrow."
Kerber will go on to face young Russian Daria Kasatkina who ousted US Open finalist Roberta Vinci.
In the first quarterfinal of the day hot-handed Simona Halep will meet Svetlana Kuznetsova. Halep blew past Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-3 while Kuznetsova upset former champion Petra Kvitova 7-6(2), 6-3.
"I can say that I'm confident, I have a few matches in a row that I won," said Halep who has won 20 of her last 23. "I'm coming here without expectation, just to enjoy the tennis and to do my best always."
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Read more stories about: Canadian Open
Tags: Agnieszka Radwanska, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Angelique Kerber, Daria Kasatkina, Eugenie Bouchard, Johanna Konta, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams