Struggling Bouchard stunned by wildcard Barty

Mar 24, 2017 06:00 am

Eugenie Bouchard's poor run of form continued yesterday morning (Singapore time) 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.

"It has been a bit of a struggle," said 23-year-old Bouchard, a former world No. 5 who has slumped to 56th in the world rankings,.

Bouchard was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon in 2014 but, apart from a run to the semi-finals at the Sydney International in January when she was beaten by Britain's Johanna Konta, she has been unable to make an impact this year.

Serbia's Jelena Jankovic was another high-profile early casualty, as she lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. Rio Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig was comfortably dealt with 6-2, 6-4 by Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Britain's Heather Watson was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 by Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig. - AFP