Eugenie Bouchard outplays Risa Ozaki to cruise in the last four – Australian Open (juniors) 2012
Canadian youngster, Eugenie Bouchard, pounded the inferior ranked Japanese age fellow, Risa Ozaki, in the straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to confirm a spot in the semi-final of the Australian Open (juniors) championship. Second seed Canadian
girl wasted no time in capitalizing on the rare unforced errors made by her rival and easily inched a step closer to the junior Grand Slam title.
It was the first encounter between the two participants and with immense experience of playing at this level, the Canadian proved her superiority over her opponent. She was the stronger player on paper and it was proved on the
courts. It will be interesting to see if she can continue her sublime form in the semi-finals of the tournament.
The inferior ranked Japanese kicked off the proceedings with a successful serve game. Her opponent was equally good from the beginning and held her serve to level the scores at 1-1. The third game of the set proved to be extremely
vital and it was also the longest of the opening set; both players fought extremely hard and the guile of Bouchard earned her the crucial breakthrough. She didn’t squander that opportunity to double the lead in the next serve game and pushed the scores to
3-1.
Ozaki was extremely close on breaking the serve of her opponent in the eighth game but the Canadian stayed composed and bagged the crucial serve game. With no more breaks in the following games of the set, the second seed mounted
pressure on her opponent with a one-set lead. Apart from that initial outbreak of the Canadian, both players met blow-by-blow to each other and there was absolutely no difference in their game level.
Ozaki commenced the second set in dismal manner; committed double fault that was followed up with two mind-startling winners down the line from the second seed. She lost the serve game to her opponent. The Canadian helped herself
to a 2-0 lead in the set with a successful serve game. Both players traded breaks in the seventh and eighth game before Bouchard broke for the third time in the set to seal the win.
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