Bouchard, Raducanu, and Osaka Advance to Second Round of Canadian Open

Montreal — Eugenie Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist, began her farewell tournament at the Canadian Open with a hard-fought win over Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, prevailing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in a three-set battle on Tuesday (IST).

The former World No. 5, who announced earlier this month that this would be her final professional tournament, received a wild card entry into the event. Bouchard is currently unranked on the WTA Tour and hadn’t played in a main draw match at the tour level since 2023.

Her next opponent will be No. 17 seed Belinda Bencic. Bouchard's victory marked the 300th match win of her career, a significant milestone she hopes won’t be her last. However, history isn’t in her favor—she has yet to defeat Bencic in three previous meetings, according to WTA records.

“I’m so proud of how I competed and stayed focused throughout the entire match. It was both a physical and mental battle, and it felt incredible to play in front of the home crowd here in Montreal,” said Bouchard.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka also advanced comfortably into the second round.

Raducanu, who has shown strong form during the North American hard-court swing, defeated Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 37 minutes. Currently ranked World No. 33 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings, Raducanu recently reached her first semifinal of the season in Washington, D.C. She will now face No. 32 seed Peyton Stearns of the United States, who received a first-round bye.

Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, followed suit with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over Canadian qualifier Ariana Arseneault in just 1 hour and 16 minutes.

Osaka now prepares for a challenging second-round clash against No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova. The two have met four times before, splitting their head-to-head 2-2, though Osaka has won both encounters on hard courts.

With inputs from IANS