AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Eugenie Bouchard moved through to the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Bibiane Schoofs but admitted that she needs to improve her attitude in future matches.
The Canadian served for the opening set only to lose it on a tiebreak, and while she was never in trouble as she came back to win, she squandered numerous opportunities to win the match more easily.
Coach Michael Joyce gave her a stern public dressing down but she admitted it was required.
“I need to be called out when I’m not doing the right thing on the court,” she admitted. “A bad attitude doesn’t help me play better, that’s for sure, and it probably makes me play worse. I got it together a bit. It’s emotional because I really want to win but it’s about doing the job.”
Off the back of a victory over Madison Brengle, Bouchard started in confident mood, reeling off the first six points, including four against the serve, as she stormed into a 2-0 lead.
Establishing such a lead would be a familiar scenario for the 24-year-old over the course of the match, but so too was promptly surrendering such an advantage.
“I thought I was handling it well but then made too many errors.” she said.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing well, but I was able to buckle down and push through it and end on a positive note instead of continuing on a downward spiral. There was no magic formula.”
Indeed, Schoofs was broken three times in the opening set, yet hung tough to win 7-5 in the tiebreak.
It was the Dutchwoman who was quicker out of the blocks in the second, which was another littered with breaks.
Bouchard first got her nose in front in the fifth game, but this time had the fortitude to outlast her opponent, drawing level at the second attempt.
The decider proved to be something of a rollercoaster as the WTA World No.87 established a 4-1 advantage only to falter with the finishing line in sight.
She was broken in the seventh game but hit back to love immediately to serve for the match. However, again her delivery let her down as a match point was squandered and the set was brought back on serve.
Bouchard looked more comfortable as the returner throughout and took her chance, picking off the WTA World No.174 at the first attempt.
“I don’t want to look back and wish to be the old me,” she said ahead of the quarterfinal. “Even in years when I wasn’t No.5 in the world, I was still Top 50. They weren’t bad years, even if the media calls them that.
“My ranking dropped last year, yes, I had some bad injuries but since then, since the middle of 2018, I’ve made good strides in the right direction.”
Wednesday's win means that she has set up a meeting with No.2 seed Julia Goerges, who was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Mona Barthel.
