Photo: Martin Sidorjak
While this 6-3, 6-2 loss to Iga Swiatek in the French Open third round will hurt Genie Bouchard – as any defeat does – the Canadian will be pleased with her showing at Roland-Garros having gone as far as she has in any Grand Slam since 2017.
Her performances in Paris, along with her run to the final at the Istanbul Open last month and quarter-finals appearance at the Prague Open in August, indicates she is regaining the consistency and high level she showed earlier in her career.
Her match with Swiatek on Court Simonne Mathieu was her first time facing the 19-year-old World No. 54. In reaching the third round, the Canadian had swept aside Anna Kalinskaya in round one and Daria Gavrilova in round two. Swiatek, meanwhile, had beaten No. 15 seed Marketa Vondrousova and Hsieh Su-wei.
It was a tough start for Bouchard as she dropped the first set to Swiatek thanks to the Polish player breaking her serve on three occasions. Bouchard, having dropped her serve on the very first game, did level things up in the fourth – only to be broken twice more, including on set point.
The second set was much the same. Bouchard made Swiatek work hard for her points but ultimately couldn’t deny her. The Canadian struggled on her second serve throughout the match in particular, winning just three of 22 points. Swiatek, on the other hand, won 14 of 24 points on her second serve.
She will now face either top seed Simona Halep or 25th seed Amanda Anisimova in the round of 16.
