Eugenie Bouchard to Face Serena Williams in the Second Round of Australian Open 2019

The Canadian WTA icon, Eugenie Bouchard is through to the round-of-64 of the Australian Open 2019. She had a comfortable win at the opener against Shuai Peng, and she dismissed her  6-2, 6-1. Up next, Bouchard gears up for her second round encounter with her idol tennis player, Serena Williams. Williams edged past the German woman, Tatjana Maria who is also a mother on the WTA tour. Serena in her best form surged past Maria 6-0, 6-2 in just 49 minutes of time. It was her first match after the controversial US Open final at the Flushing Meadows. “I kind of like to jump in the deep end and swim,” Williams said in an on-court interview after her opening round match ended, “and see what happens”.

The woman who aims for the sky, Serena, boards the train for her first showdown in Melbourne ever since she became a mother, and as she says, she is going in the right direction. Her bright green form-fitting short jumpsuit ‘Serena-tard’, gives a perfect contrast with the two-tone blue court of Melbourne blended with the wizardry with her Wilson wand. Williams lost in nostalgia and expressing the crowd at the Australian Open 2019 she said, “I think the last time I was here I was actually pregnant and playing at the same time, which is insane. It feels good walking back on this court, by myself this time. That was one of the best matches of my career.” 

She has seized ten major titles after she turned 30 and if she picks up six more matches in the Melbourne tournament, she will be share space with Margaret Court for achieving two dozens of Grand Slams. In addition to that, the Compton girl will join the mother’s club of Grand Slam champions.

Everyone on the tennis circuit admires Serena for the magic which she creates on the court with her Wilson wand and off the court commitment and devotion she shows towards the sport. Every budding tennis player looks up to her and urges to emulate just a portion of what she has achieved in her prolonged career of tennis. To no one’s surprise, the 24-year-old Bouchard holds high esteem for the GOAT American tennis player. The Canadian expounded her respect and regards towards Serena, and she considers her to be the zenith of tennis.

“Well, it’s a long list,” Bouchard said when she was asked to share her thoughts about the superwoman of tennis. “She’s the greatest ever. So it’s just so cool that I’ll be able to share the court with her and an opportunity to see how I compare to one of the best players. Her ranking is Top 20 right now, but to me, she’s always basically number one. I admire the longevity of her career, her dominance over such a long amount of time, how she’s come back so many times from injury, pregnancy, et cetera. I don’t want to talk about it too much and put her on too much of a pedestal because I have to play her in two days, but I love her. I’m super excited – this is why we play the big tournaments, to play the best players.” Bouchard and Williams have met twice in their careers, the first one being in Cincinnati in 2013 and the other at the WTA championship in 2014. Both the times the 37-year-old American, Serena toppled the World Number 79, Bouchard.

The 16-seed at the Australian Open 2019, Serena looks forward to winning her eighth Australian Open crown. The last time she seized the title was in the year 2017 where she was carrying an eight-week-old foetus in her womb and triumphed over her sister Venus Williams. Serena also unfolded her reverence for the 2014 Wimbledon finalist, Bouchard. “It will be a great match. She plays really well,” Williams said. “She does everything well, and I really like that she doesn’t quit. You know, people write her off, and she doesn’t let that bother her. She continues to fight and do what she needs to do. I think that’s really good.” 

On the other WTA courts, Venus Williams will play the Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. Maria Sharapova is taking on Rebecca Peterson, Carolina Garcia will play an Australian woman Zoe Hives, Petra Kivotiva will see Camelia Begu and Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens will also be seen in action on the day three of the Australian Open 2019.