Lucie Hradecka overcomes Eugenie Bouchard in the second round – Bell Challenge 2012
Eighth seed, Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka, needed to bring out her best to topple the world number 178, Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, in three sets 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-6(4) in the round two of the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada
on Thursday.
The Czech player reached victory line in two hours and 24 minutes and moved to the quarter-finals.
Hradecka and Bouchard won their serve in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in the favour of the latter. The Canadian contender hit a blow to Hradecka in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead but she lost the following two
and equalled the proceedings at 3-3. Rest of the set did not see any strike by either of the two players, squaring off the score at 6-6 and taking the set to a tie-breaker. They went on equal terms till 2-2 but then Hradecka captured five straight points to
seal it 7-6(2).
The Czech player bombarded six aces and committed a couple of double faults in the first set. The right-hander kept the first serve percentage at 61 and secured 21 of the 25 points on them. The 27-year-old saved two of the three
break points she faced and converted one of the three she received.
First four games of the second set went with serve, levelling the score at 2-2. Bouchard raised the stature of her play afterwards and looked like a completely changed player, grabbing four in a row to claim it 6-2.
The Canadian player banged in two aces and made a single double fault in the second set. The 18-year-old was almost flawless on the first deliveries, as she lost only a single point on them, grabbing 14 of the 15. The Westmount,
Canada resident gave a poor showing on the second serves and first returns, as she lost six of the 10 and 10 of the 12 points on them respectively. Bouchard capitalised on two of the five break opportunities she created.
In the decider, Hradecka and Bouchard broke each other once till the end, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. The Czech contender lost the opening two points to go down 0-2 at the start but then clinched seven of
the following nine points and sealed it 7-6(4).
Hradecka is drawn to face American qualifier, Lauren Davis, in the quarter-finals. Davis stunned the second seed, Yanina Wickmayer, in the second round.
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