Irina Khromacheva downs Eugenie Bouchard; moves into Girls’ Singles semi-finals – Wimbledon 2011
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard saw her Wimbledon campaign end in the quarterfinal as she went down in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to Irina Khromacheva in Friday’s match.
Bouchard had been hoping to arrive in Wimbledon with a first Wimbledon title but the Canadian made a sluggish start to her quarter-final, dropping serve as early as the third game after some sloppy errors and handing the initiative
to Khromacheva
Canada’s fifth seed came into the match pumped up by victories over Krista Hardebeck, Barbara Haas and Megane Bianco. But it was not long before the young Russian was calling the tune and in that counter-attacking style of her
she steadily took the Canadian apart with just about every shot in the book in winning 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes.
In a cagey opening game, Khromacheva was broken in the opening game as she did not have another break point against the Canadian until the next game when Khromacheva broke straight back and then in the fourth game, after Bouchard
remained unable to covert two breakpoints.
The Canadian began the second set as she had played much of the first but it seemed unlikely she would be able to keep up such a high level, and so it proved as she fired a forehand wide to fall 2-4 in game six before Khromacheva
converted her second break point.
Just when one would think Khromacheva’s game could not get any better it did, in that memorable eighth game which had the Brit crowd at the All England Tennis Club gasping in amazement at her shots. Inevitably, after her momentary
lack of concentration she hit straight to win the match on Bouchard’s serve, setting up the match point with a drop shot just to highlight her superiority. It was the final insult to the Canadian woman, who promptly double faulted.
Khromacheva's game just seemed to get better and better. Not her opponent’s sloppy game was the key to her reaching the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championship but it was the variety of her shot-making as she dropped, lobbed
and passed her rival will.
The third-seeded Russian has now moved into the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championships, where she will meet the second-seeded Caroline Garcia of France, who brushed aside the challenge of Paraguayan Montserrat Gonzalez in a
three-set victory.
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