INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – 2015 French Open semifinalist played stupendous tennis in the final set of a tense match to defeat former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
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“I’m really happy about the way I played in the third set,” Bacsinszky told Andrew Krasny during the on-court interview, “it was like the first set a little bit.”
The first game foreshadowed the nearly two-and-half hour battle that was to come, as Bacsinszky broke on her fifth break point opportunity, and though the Canadian, who was looking to build on her tour-leading 15 WTA match wins, eventually steadied herself on serve, the Swiss star ultimately sealed the set.
Taking a nasty spill to start the second, Bacsinszky needed a lengthy medical timeout to address multiple cuts; Bouchard spent the time talking tactics with coach Thomas Högstedt and taking practice serves. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist broke serve for the first time soon after and went on to level the match with a second service break.
“I think Genie played really well, especially in the second; she pushed me a lot to make errors.”
Undaunted, Bacsinszky grabbed the initiative in the decider and never let go, relying on her laser sharp backhand and 31 winners overall – to only 25 from Bouchard – to serve out the win.
“I’m really glad I found a solution at the end.”
After the match, the former World No.10 thanked hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who was in the crowd during the match, for helping to inspire her to push through the pain.
“The Great One was watching here, and he knows how it feels to get hurt in a hockey match. I fell right in front of him so I thought, ‘It’s all right; I have to show him I don’t feel the pain.'”
In order to back up her 2015 run to the quarterfinals, Bacsinszky will need to beat Daria Kasatkina – one of three 18-year-olds currently in the Top 50 – who saved a match point to defeat Monica Puig, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).
Earlier in the day, No.9 seed Roberta Vinci rebounded from a thrilling second round win over Margarita Gasparyan – a match that needed a final set tie-break – to ease past BMW Malaysian Open champion and No.17 seed Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-3.
The 2015 US Open finalist burst out of the gate by winning the first four games, keeping her side of the stat sheet clean (20 winners to 11 unforced) while the Ukrainian youngster – who recently hired former No.1 Justine Henin as a coaching consultant – struggled with consistency, hitting 17 winners but 25 unforced errors.
“I played a great game today, so consistent, focused, aggressive,” Vinci said after the match, explaining, “Against her you have to play like this. She’s a great player, she has a good rally. But I think, well, I just played so good.”
The secret to her late-blooming success?
“I don’t have a secret. Just play and stay focused every single day. Stay calm in the court and outside the court, and just enjoy the life.”
Up next for Vinci is Magdalena Rybarikova, who outlasted No.7 seed Belinda Bencic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
