Montreal, June 24, 2014 – After a tough opening day for Canada on Monday at Wimbledon, three Canadians posted first round wins on Tuesday in London, England. Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC), Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls, ON), and Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) all advanced to the second round at the third Grand Slam event of the season while Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) was defeated.
Bouchard faced a tricky first round test against world no. 34 Daniela Hantuchova. The Slovak twice led by a break in the opening set, including at 5-3. The 20-year-old Canadian managed to reel off four straight games to take a one set lead. The second set was also tightly disputed, but in the end it was Bouchard who came through with a 7-5, 7-5 win.
“It was a tough match, I was a bit nervous,” said Bouchard after the match. “I don’t think I played my best tennis, but I am happy that I was able to find a way to win.”
Bouchard will face either Olga Govortsova or Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the second round.
On the men’s side, Raonic made quick work of Aussie Matthew Ebden in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. The Canadian was dominant on serve, hitting 30 aces compared to just two from his opponent. He also won 85 percent of his first serve points and hit 56 winners and only 17 unforced errors. Raonic will face American Jack Sock next as he tries to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.
After losing in the final round of qualifying, Dancevic was given a place in the main draw as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of Nicolas Almagro. He made the most of his second chance, defeating no. 29 seed and big serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(4). Dancevic broke Karlovic’s serve once in the match and was never broken on his own serve. His opponent in the second round will be Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
Fichman was the only Canadian to lose on Tuesday. She fell 6-1, 6-3 to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.
