Bouchard back on winning track in Vegas

Opting to play only doubles this week at the Henderson Tennis Open, Genie Bouchard got back on the winning track Wednesday.

Teamed up with Hungary’s Fanny Stollar, the No. 2 seeds dispatched Stephanie Wagner of Germany and Maria Gutierrez Carrasco of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.

They played Hsu Chieh-Yu of Taipei and Marcela Zacarias of Mexico in the quarterfinals Thursday and after a swoon in a second set they could well have won, took it in the match tiebreak.

On Friday, they were defeated by the most experienced players they had faced, Mandy Minella and Olga Govortsova, and went down 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Here she is talking about the victory Wednesday in Henderson.

Bouchard’s drop in the singles rankings means her doubles ranking – which stands at No. 192 – is actually higher than her singles ranking.

Without a doubt, the highlight of a 2019 season marked by injuries, a 13-match losing streak in singles and a major drop in her rankings fortune came right at the beginning of the season.

Bouchard and partner Sofia Kenin won the title at the WTA Tour event in Auckland, NZ, coming back from losing the first set 6-1 to win the match tiebreak 10-7 against Paige Hourigan and Taylor Townsend.

It was the first doubles title of Bouchard’s career; this is only her sixth tournament in doubles this season.

But a big run would do wonders for the confidence, as the Canadian is set to come back in singles to wrap up the season, at the WTA 125K tournament in Houston next week.