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An encouraging victory for Eugenie Bouchard, as she defeats former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in Rome
During her 2015 season from hell, Genie Bouchard failed to get the better of a player ranked in the top 25 on the WTA Tour. She had six opportunities, but came second every time.
With a hard-earned 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia Tuesday in Rome, Bouchard already has two such victories this season. The first came against Sloane Stephens at Indian Wells in March.
"I knew it would be a tough battle. I have played her a couple of times before, and, you know, she gets a lot of balls back. She's tough. She stays with you. I just had to keep being tough. You know, I realized that she started controlling too many points, so in the third set I decided no matter what, you know, even if I make a couple more mistakes I need to step in and go for it. I think that made the difference," Bouchard told the media in Rome. "A couple of times I definitely felt like I lost my focus a little bit in the second set and then also up 3-love in the third. But those things happen. And, yeah, it was definitely tough conditions, as well. It was a little bit windy. We were getting clay in our eyes all the time. It was actually very tough. But it was fun."
Bouchard had beaten Jankovic the last two times they met, the most recent a three-setter on the Har-Tru in Charleston in 2014. But on Tuesday, she didn’t face the Jankovic who was once No. 1 in the world and won the Internazionale BNL d’Italia back-to-back in 2007 and 2008.
Bouchard faced a Jankovic whose ranking is down to No. 25 and who, at 31, has battled innumerable nagging injuries the last couple of years and perhaps is feeling her age a little bit.
Regardless, the Serb remains a tough opponent with her consistency, movement and ability to change directions with her groundstrokes and unload on her backhand down the line. That signature shot that has made her millions.
On a gusty day, as both players fought to keep the red clay out of their eyeballs, ears, noses and whatever else, Bouchard was by far the more consistent of the two. If the victory wasn’t a total shocker, that fact certainly was.
The 22-year-old Canadian’s serve looked much, much better than it did during her first-round loss to Irina-Camelia Begu in Madrid a week ago. The velocity was very good on both the first and second serves. Coach Cyril Saulnier reminded her to load and drive with her legs, a far better technical option than putting pressure on her vulnerable abdominals.
The upgrade didn’t translate into much success in holding serve; in all, there were 14 breaks of serve and 27 break-point opportunities in the match. Each player broke seven times.
But Bouchard held when it counted most: at 4-4 in the first set, despite playing with the wind, before two double faults by Jankovic in the 10th game handed her the first set.
Bouchard won five of her six games on the side of the court where she was against the wind in that first set; that crucial hold was the only game she won playing with the wind.
After the set, Saulnier came out for an on-court consult and counselled her to be even more aggressive on that side. In these conditions, the footwork needs to be constant and crisp, with last-minute adjustments needed on virtually every ball. When Bouchard took care of that aspect, she was fine. When she didn’t, she often was left flat-footed when Jankovic changed the direction of the ball, or jumped all over second serves and returned them deep.
The coaching advice didn’t work, at first. Bouchard failed to hold serve at all in the second set. She was broken four times; the only two games she won were breaks of serve when she was on the side with the wind.
In the third, after racing to a 3-0 lead, giving it up, and breaking again to regain the advantage, Bouchard came through with another key hold to consolidate that break and take a 5-2 lead she didn’t relinquish. Regardless of which way the wind was blowing, the 22-year-old was finding the answers and gaining confidence.
Bouchard also attacked the net quite a bit; it wasn’t always pretty, and certainly there were approaches when her split-second of hesitation cost her. But she also was well-rewarded at times, putting pressure on Jankovic to make something happen and even managing to win points with a couple of improvised half-volley drop shots.
The next challenge is significant: Bouchard will face No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber in the second round.
As with Jankovic, Bouchard’s priors with the top German and reigning Australian Open champion are very good. They have met three times before – all in Grand Slam tournaments – and Bouchard won the last two.
But it was a different worlds then; the Canadian defeated Kerber in the fourth round at the French Open and in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2014.
At the time, she was in the middle of the by far the best stretch of her young career; Kerber was in the top 10 then but didn’t pose nearly the threat she does now, just two years later.
