Chennai Open: Eugenie Bouchard too hot for Karman Kaur Thandi

Chennai, September 14

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Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard quelled a second-set fightback from India’s Karman Kaur Thandi to win 6-2 7-6(2) in the Round of 16 and book a spot in the singles quarterfinals of the Chennai Open WTA 250 tennis tournament here today.

With Thandi’s exit, the Indian challenge in the singles draw came to an end. India No. 1 Ankita Raina had gone down to Tatjana Maria in Round 1 yesterday.

Bouchard was untroubled for a major part of the first set and looked set to run away with it before the India No. 2 fought back and won two games. Inconsistency cost Thandi as the former world No. 5 Canadian closed out the set 6-2. In the second set, the former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard was made to work hard by Thandi. Cheered on by the home crowd, Thandi served well and used her powerful forehand to trouble Bouchard. From 2-2, the 24-year-old Indian won three games on the trot and looked set to push the match into the decider. However, errors crept into her game and saw her surrender the advantage.

She squandered two set points and let Bouchard back into the set. The Canadian used her experience to break back. After the duo held their respective serves, Bouchard was all over the Indian in the tie-break and quickly wrapped it up 7-2.