Eugenie Bouchard rolls into the third round at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE – The Genie Army staked out its television camera-friendly territory behind the court sometime during the Tommy Robredo – Julien Benneteau marathon that proceeded Genie Bouchard’s second-round match on Show Court 2 Wednesday.

And after Bouchard’s 6-2, 7-6 victory over veteran Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano that began in rather routine fashion and ended in a topsy-turvy tiebreak that had a little bit of everything, the Army – Melbournians to a man – belted out an impressive rendition of O Canada and took another step towards honorary Canadian citizenship.

“They’d better show up to my next match,” said Bouchard, who ended up in the big interview room as even the BBC wanted to interview the 19-year-old from Westmount, now in the third round of the Australian Open with a terrific chance to go a lot further.

Bouchard was down 1-4 in the second set, after Razzano eliminated many of the first-set errors from her game and the teenager let up, just a bit.

Her first serve deserted her and an emboldened Razzano got on a hot streak, feasting on a few too many weak 125 km/h second serves.

But when it seemed the second set was lost, Bouchard came roaring back.

Bouchard had three match points at love-40 on Razzano’s serve at 4-5 in the second set, and three more through the tiebreak, before finally prevailing 12-10 on the seventh opportunity.

She even snapped a racquet at 2-2 in that tiebreak, earning a warning from the chair umpire once Juan Zhang figured it what had happened.

There were big saves, timely winning stabs, a couple of unlucky let cords and a Razzano challenge on Bouchard’s 178 km/h at 8-8 that overturned it and forced her to hit a second serve.

At 9-8 for Razzano – set point to take it to a decider – Bouchard hit a screaming forehand winner that she couldn’t even remember afterwards.

Even Razzano had to smile and shake her head after that one – although the one epithet she later used to sum up her reaction at that precise moment was less of a laughing matter.

At 10-9, match point No. 6, a bird chirped, Bouchard caught an errant toss, then sailed a backhand long.

At 11-10, on match point No. 7, Bouchard stumbled early in the point, nearly falling, but managed to regain her balance, stay in the point … and win it.

There was a roar when it was over. Actually, there was a double roar; Bouchard enjoyed the first one so much she decided it was worth doing again.

There even was a slightly awkward, but warm two-cheek kiss with Razzano at the net from the typically businesslike Bouchard.

"I just thought because she was French they do the kissy thing. I thought she maybe kind of wanted to. I was hesitating. I just kind of went for it," she said - laughing.

Bouchard’s draw here was always full of delectable possibilities. And it became even tastier when the other seeded players in her section began losing.

Gone in the first round was No. 7 seed Sara Errani of Italy, who was to be her third-round opponent – at least on paper.

Also gone are No. 12 Roberta Vinci and No. 18 Kirsten Flipkens, one of whom was slated to be a fourth-round opponent, if they all got to that point.

Only Bouchard did what her ranking suggested she should do. And as a reward, she will face former junior rival Lauren Davis, a pint-sized American retriever, in the third round on Friday.

She’s the first Canadian to get to the third round of the Australian Open since Sonya Jeyaseelan did it in 2000.

If Bouchard can get past that – and she’ll be the overwhelming favorite – she would play either Jie Zheng of China or Australian wild card Casey Dellacqua to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

If anyone had offered her that scenario upon her arrival in Australia to start the 2014 season, she would have signed up for it so fast you wouldn’t have even been able to see her pen whirring frantically across the paper.

For their efforts, the Genie Army fought for a tournament towel. In return, they gave Bouchard a koala as a remembrance of her breakthrough Australian Open effort, one that isn't over yet by a longshot.

NOTES: While Bouchard was toiling on Show Court 2, two other Canadians made their doubles debuts. Daniel Nestor, seeded No. 8 with partner Nenad ZImonjic of Serbia, disposed of the German team of Benjamin Becker and Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round. Toronto’s Sharon Fichman wasn’t as fortunate; she and partner Monica Puig of Puerto Rico were edged out 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 by the Spanish team of Garbine Muguruza and Arantxa Parra Santonja.

Later Wednesday night, a determined Vasek Pospisil overcame a painful back issue to defeat Australia’s Matt Ebden 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9), 6-1 to advance to the third round of the men’s singles, where he’ll play No. 8 seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland for the second time in three weeks.

Milos Raonic's second round match Thursday against Victor Hanescu of Romania, unfortunately isn't scheduled on a television court, so there will be no way to watch it back in Canada. Check back here tomorrow for all the news and photos.