Up until Thursday, Genie Bouchard had breezed through her matches in Flushing, Queens. She had only lost 11 games through three qualifying and one main draw matchups. But, facing Marketa Vondrousova was her toughest test and she fell to the 19-year-old, 6-4, 6-3.
Bouchard's serve was broken right out of the gate, and trailed 3-1 early in the first set. But then the two players traded breaks. Vondrousova took a 5-4 lead before she was able to hold serve to win the first set 6-4.
Facing a left-handed player is always tough as the ball spins differently than when facing a righty and Bouchard struggled to time her shots. The Montreal native staved off numerous break points for Vondrousova but was only able to convert on three of her seven opportunities.
A solid four-match run at the #USOpen comes to an end for Genie Bouchard, who goes down 6-4, 6-3 to tricky Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova.
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) August 30, 2018
Onward and upward, Genie. 💪 pic.twitter.com/dswYjCzSRS
Unfortunately, the second set started the same as the first with the Czech Republic's Vondrousova going up 2-1, but Bouchard would come back and tie it at three.
The crowd was heavily in Bouchard's corner as they yelled "C'mon Genie" numerous times when she trailed 4-3.
But in the critical eighth game Bouchard had a chance to break. Instead, Bouchard had an unforced error on an overhead. Vondrousova broke Bouchard to take the second and final set 6-3 with a backhand volley over the head the Canadian.
In her first round match, Bouchard defeated France's Harmony Tan in straight sets. Bouchard is now three years removed from her fall in the US Open locker room and had her best showing in Queens since 2015 when she made it to the fourth round.
Vondrousova will now face the Netherland's Kiki Bertens who defeated American Francesca Di Lorenzo, 6-2, 6-1.