Miami Open: Barty ousts Bouchard

Miami, March 23 

Eugenie Bouchard’s poor run of form continued as the Canadian suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty at the Miami Open.

Wildcard Barty’s 6-4 5-7 6-3 win sets up an all-Australian clash in the second round of the WTA hardcourt event against 14th seed Samantha Stosur.

But for the 23-year-old Bouchard, a former world No. 5 who has slumped to 56th in the rankings, it was another blow after her first-round exit in Indian Wells. “It has been a bit of a struggle,” said a stone-faced Bouchard, who was unable to account for her loss of form.

Bouchard was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon in 2014 but, apart from a run to the semifinal at Sydney where she was beaten by Britain’s Johanna Konta, she has been unable to make an impact this year.

Barty reproduced the gutsy tennis that helped her secure her maiden WTA title at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic was another high-profile early exit, the 2008 Miami finalist falling 4-6 6-4 7-6(3) to Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. Local favourite and Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig was comfortably dealt with 6-2 6-4 by Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

The Puerto Rican Miami-resident struggled from the outset. — AFP