Montreal, September 2, 2014 – Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC) and Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) were seeking quarter-final berths at the U.S. Open on Labour Day Monday at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Raonic played the night cap on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Japan’s Kei Nishikori whom he beat a few weeks ago at Wimbledon. The tournament’s fifth seed got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 4-1, 0-40 lead. Nishikori fought back, but lost serve at 4-5 to give Raonic the first set. Both players broke serve twice in the second set, but Nishikori was the more consistent in the tiebreak and managed to level the match. Raonic saved eight break point chances and won the tiebreak to take a two sets to one lead. Nishikori stormed back to take the final two sets and the match 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 after over four hours of play and tie the record for the latest finish in the history of the U.S. Open.
For the first time this season, Bouchard was stopped before the semifinals of a Grand Slam, falling 7-6(2), 6-4 to Russian Ekaterina Makarova in one hour, 44 minutes. The 20-year-old Canadian was down a break for the majority of the first set before breaking at 4-5 to get back on serve. Makarova was the one who dominated the tiebreak to take a one set lead. Bouchard called for the trainer trailing 2-3 in the second set as she was struggling with the heat and humidity. Bouchard managed to level the second frame at 4-4, but Makarova stepped up in the final two games to secure her place in the quarter-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka.
“The heat affected me, but fatigue also slowed me down,” Bouchard said after the match. “My last two night matches were tough and I wasn’t 100 percent when I stepped on the court today, and I started feeling light-headed in the second set.”
