Canada's Eugenie Bouchard hits a return to Sara Sorribes Tormo, of Spain, during the women's final in the Abierto of Zapopan tennis tournament in Zapopan, Mexico, Saturday, March 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)The Associated Press
Eugenie Bouchard’s hopes for a second career WTA title have been dashed.
The Montrealer fell to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 7-5 at the Guadalajara Open, a WTA 250-level tournament, in Mexico Saturday night. Bouchard sought her first tournament win since 2014 when she won the Nuremberg Cup in Germany.
Bouchard won the first game of the match, but it was Sorribes Tormo who was up a break in the first set. Sorribes Tormo took a 3-1 lead in the opening set before Bouchard fought back to win a game. The Spaniard would later win the next three games to win the first set.
Sorribes Tormo would open the second set by winning the first game. Bouchard would draw even, but she’d lose yet another break point to go down 2-1. Bouchard wouldn’t be down long, however, as she clawed back to take a 5-3 lead in the set.
Unfortunately, the Canadian couldn’t hold on to the lead and lost the next four games. Sorribes Tormo defeated Bouchard in less than two hours.
The 27-year-old had only lost one set during her run to the final, her very first set of the tournament against American Caroline Dolehide. She defeated Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the semifinals of the Guadalajara Open, needing a tiebreak to win the second set. Saturday’s appearance was her eighth career WTA Tour final appearance.
Bouchard was once ranked as high as fifth in the world among tennis players. She attained that ranking in 2014 when she won her first career title, reached the Wimbledon final, and made the Australian Open and French Open semifinals. Her form suffered after that, falling as far down as 224th in the WTA rankings in 2019.
The Canadian will jump 144th-ranked to 116th after her final loss.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2021.