(New York) Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the first round of qualifying at the US Open on Tuesday, while her compatriots Alexis Galarneau and Katherine Sebov were eliminated.
Bouchard, 216e world racket, defeated 18-year-old American Katherine Hui 6-2, 6-3 in 74 minutes.
The 29-year-old Westmount native had two aces and no double faults, while Hui had no aces but seven double faults.
Serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set, Bouchard saw Hui extend the suspense by breaking her rival’s serve. However, Bouchard won the next game, ending the encounter by breaking Hui’s serve for the sixth time.
In the next round, Bouchard will face Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, 12e seeded in the women’s singles qualifying draw.
Bouchard has not played in the singles main draw at a major tournament since the French Open in 2020.
PHOTO JOHN E. SOKOLOWSKI, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVE VIA REUTERS CON
Alexis Galarneau
For his part, Galarneau had a roller coaster match. After winning the first set 6-3, he saw his Swiss rival Dominic Stricker win the next two 6-2 and 6-0.
Galarneau occupies the 207e world rank, while Stricker finds himself at 127e rung. Stricker is the 22e seeded in men’s singles qualifying.
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Katherine Sebov
For his part, Sebov, from Toronto, gave up in front of Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. Seeded third in qualifying, Wickmayer won 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-2 in a two-hour, 44-minute duel.
