Canada's Genie Bouchard qualified for her first quarterfinal in almost six months, but it wasn't easy.
Bouchard roared back from down two breaks in both sets to defeat eighth-seed Viktorija Golubic 7-6(2), 7-6(7) on Wednesday at the Ladies Championship Gstaad. At one point, Bouchard trailed in the first set 2-5 and needed to save a total of seven set points to come back and secure the win.
"I don't even think I'm playing that great," Bouchard said after the match. "Conditions are tough - but I'm just trying to fight. That's what helped me out."..@geniebouchard battles past Golubic to win 7-6(2), 7-6(7)!
— WTA (@WTA) July 19, 2018
Books a spot in the last eight of the @WTA_Gstaad! --> https://t.co/c9XASsIAUr pic.twitter.com/c40USmnEn0
Bouchard won the first-set tiebreak in easy fashion, 7-2, and seemed on her way to another quick tiebreak in the second set when she raced ahead 6-1. However, Golubic battled back before Bouchard finally clinched the match with a 9-7 win in the tiebreak.
Ranked 146th by the WTA, Bouchard's latest win comes on the heels of her victory over Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday in three sets. Her last quarterfinal appearance came in February where Bouchard lost in straight sets to Yafan Wang aIn Taipei. Bouchard also reached the quarters in Birmingham, England in a premier event last month, losing in three sets to Jennifer Brady.
Bouchard's will face Russia's Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals at 9:30 am ET on Friday. Kudermetova defeated thrid-seed Viktoria Kuzmova in two tiebreak sets, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) on Wednesday. This will be their first career meeting.