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Eugenie Bouchard beats Serena Williams as Canada defeats U.S. at the exhibition Hopman Cup
The last time Serena Williams and Canada's Genie Bouchard met on a tennis court was at the WTA Tour finals in Singapore last October.
That day, the world No. 1 was on a mission. And Bouchard got two games.
Fast forward 2 1/2 months to Tuesday at the Hopman Cup and everything looked the same, from the colour of the tennis court to the Nike outfits the women were wearing – the clothing manufacturers don't roll out their new 2015 lines until the spotlight shines its brightest at the Australian Open.
And Williams was on a mission again – a mission to seemingly move as little as possible and get it over as quickly as possible. Once again, the outcome was very much in her hands, but on the flipside. And Bouchard took full advantage.
The 20-year-old from Montreal's 6-2, 6-1 win over the American took just 50 minutes. It was her first-ever victory over Williams, with whom she now shares an agent, even though it won't count in their head-to-head because the Hopman Cup is just an exhibition event.
But however victory comes against one of the greatest of all time, Bouchard will surely take it.
"Maybe she needed another coffee," Bouchard joked to the media after the win, referencing the already epic moment during Williams's first Hopman Cup match when she sent out for expresso. "I know she didn't play her best. I'm happy I just stayed with it and held my nerve. It's a good way to start the year – it gives me some confidence."
Bouchard double-faulted five times during her first two service games. Her technique was all over the place, the velocity is still missing, and everything in general was a bit shaky to start.
But it quickly became apparent that Williams was off her game. As in – REALLY off. The best serve in the history of women's tennis was being lobbed in; often, her first delivery wasn't even hitting 140 km/hour on the radar run. Williams's feet weren't moving, her range was pretty much one step in either direction and she was rushing between points as though she had a dinner date.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm so tired. It's weird. I can't get my body to move. I feel like I've got no energy. It's a little frustrating because I know I can play two thousand times better," Williams told the media afterwards. "I've been trying to rest up. I did a little gym work, but I just felt depleted. I don't know why. I don't know how to describe it. I've just got to get my feet moving. I have to figure it out. Hopefully I can do better in the next match."
Williams only arrived in Perth after the long trip from Florida on Saturday, and played her first matches Monday. The Australian summer weather has been strength-sapping, as well, in the range of 45C as a high. All of that lethargy from the other side of the court was just what the doctor ordered for Bouchard, who was down 0-6, 0-2 in her first match Sunday against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic before she stopped looking lost.
The Canadian cleaned up the serve, began striking the ball well, and fired more than a few groundstroke winners down the line. If she was waiting for Williams to somehow snap out of it, it didn't show. Even if the opposition wasn't putting up a huge fight, there were reminders in Bouchard's aggressiveness and on-court demeanour of what got her to this week's No. 6 ranking.
Being back in the winner's circle had to feel pretty good; the Canadian lost all three of her round-robin matches in Singapore to close out 2014. And 2015 could have easily started the same way, and snowballed.
Bouchard even handled the inspid on-court interviewers' questions about Justin ... what's-his-name? Beeby? Beaver? after the match with reasonable aplomb.
After Bouchard's victory, teammate Vasek Pospisil took on American John Isner and in a match of much higher quality on both sides of the net, Pospisil prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (4) to clinch the victory for Canada.
Isner, who is 6-foot-10, has one of the biggest serves in the business.
But Pospisil, who told Eh Game a couple of weeks ago that he was working on being more aggressive and have a better plan on serve returns, was on it. He even out-aced Isner, 11 to 10; the usually-placid American was getting increasingly frustrated with it all.
The official stats had Pospisil with 35 winners and only 11 unforced errors, a superb ratio. And after the back problems that came to head a year ago this week, he was running and sliding and moving perhaps better than we've ever seen him.
Isner took out his frustation in the mixed doubles, which was not a live match given the outcome was already sealed in favour of the Canadians.
He showed absolutely no mercy when serving to Bouchard, who barely got her racquet on the ball whether it was a 210 km/hour bomb down the middle, or an unreturnable serve out wide that practically bounced into the stands. She smiled, but the competitor in her clearly wasn't pleased – at all.
Williams rallied as well, displaying a lot more energy than she had in the singles. The Americans won it 6-3, 7-5 to make the final score 2-1 for Canada.
Bouchard and Pospisil will play Italy on Thursday. Bouchard will have an opportunity in her first-ever match against Flavia Pennetta, the world No. 12, to build on whatever momentum she created against Williams.
