Back in the game
With expectations tweaked since her plucky run to the Wimbledon final four years ago, Eugenie Bouchard is on the cusp of a small but crucial goal – a return to a Grand Slam main draw.
Much has changed for the Canadian since she fell to Petra Kvitova as a 20-year-old on Centre Court in that title match.
She broke into the world’s top five that season and the subsequent attention garnered only heightened expectations.
She was widely tipped to deliver Canada its first Grand Slam champion.
Now teetering on the edge of tumbling from the top 200 in the rankings, the 24-year-old has strung together her second straight Wimbledon Qualifying victory, a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 ledger against Czech Karolina Muchova.
It came in stark contrast to her complete routing of Zhu Lin in the opening round, a match in which her all-out aggression cost her just two games.
Against the 21-year-old on Wednesday, however, she was forced to tough it out, snapping her opponent’s second-set momentum to seal the result.
Having provided scant insight following her first-round victory, a reserved Bouchard was again coy on her realigned expectations.
Clearly, though, nothing less than reaching her sixth straight Wimbledon main draw would cut it.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing all that well so I’m just happy that I was able to keep myself collected in the third and find a way,” Bouchard said.
“She played well, you know. I think she’s young – I don’t know if she’s an up-and-comer or what – but she was serve and volleying, she was slicing, she was mixing it up, so that was tricky but I was able to handle that in the third.”
No.2 seed Mariana Duque-Marino is the woman who stands between Bouchard and a spot in the main draw. The Colombian posted a 6-4, 6-1 win over Richel Hogenkamp.
In a season in which Bouchard has only twice strung together two consecutive match wins at any level, victory over Duque-Marino would be a turn for the best.
“You know what, I’d just be proud of myself for going through the matches,” Bouchard said if she did manage to qualify. “I have a match tomorrow so that’s all I’m worried about right now… I’ve learnt a lot and just grateful to be playing tennis.”
There was good news for another former Wimbledon finalist when 33-year-old Vera Zvonareva booked her place in the final round of Qualifying.
The Russian landed a 7-6(3), 6-2 result over Uzbekistan’s Sabina Sharipova to set a clash with American teenager Caroline Dolehide.
“Eventually, if I can make it up to the big stages, that’s great, that’s awesome,” Zvonareva said. “Being able to play on big courts against great players, that’s what we are all looking for, it’s kind of a reward for the hard work.”
Zvonareva was a runner-up at the All England Club eight years ago. Three degrees, her first child and a long list of injuries later she is one match from returning to SW19 for the first time in four years.
“I think when you go out there on the big court you get these emotions, your motivation, you compete, it’s great,” she said.
“Here, it’s a qualifying event, you see some people coming to watch tennis because they love it and competition is great, but some smaller tournaments are not like that and sometimes you wouldn’t see a single person out there besides your coach, if you have a coach.
“For me I’m not really paying attention to that because I’m playing more for the love of the game.”
A hint of those emotions from their respective final runs would surely be roused should Zvonareva and Bouchard punch their tickets to a main draw return.
