Bouchard, Raducanu and Osaka Reach Second Round of Canadian Open

Montreal (The Uttam Hindu): Eugenie Bouchard defeated Emiliana Arango 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in three sets at the 'Canadian Open' on Tuesday (Indian time). 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie had announced earlier this month that this would be the last tournament of her career.

Former world number 5 Bouchard is playing in this tournament as a wild card. She currently has no ranking in the WTA. Bouchard last played a tour-level main draw match in 2023.

Now in the next round she will face 17th seeded Belinda Bencic.

The victory in the second round was Eugenie Bouchard's 300th career match win. Bouchard hopes this will not be her last win. According to WTA statistics, she has not won any of the three matches against Belinda Bencic so far.

"I'm proud of how I competed. I stayed focused and fought throughout the match. It was a physical and mental battle. It was really amazing to play in front of everyone in Montreal," Bouchard said after the win.

Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka won in straight sets in the first round.

Raducanu continued her strong start to the North American summer hard-court season by beating Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania 6-2, 6-4.

Emma Raducanu, who has risen to World No. 33 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings, reached her first semifinal of the season on hard court in Washington DC last week. She picked up another victory of the summer hard-court season in Montreal, where she defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse in 1 hour and 37 minutes of play.

In the second round, Raducanu will face No. 32 seed Payton Stearns of the United States, who received a bye in the first round.

In the next match played at the Centre Court in Montreal, Japan's four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka defeated Canadian qualifier Ariana Arsenault 6-4, 6-2. The match lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes.

In the second round, Osaka will face number 13 seed Ludmila Samsonova. So far, there have been four matches between the two, out of which Osaka won two. The special thing is that both have come on hard court.