Rising Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard saw her pre-Wimbledon preparations go awry after losing to Vania King in the first round of the Topshelf Open on Tuesday, but there were no such problems for Simona Halep.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Bouchard, who pulled out of last week’s tournament in Birmingham after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open, was beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 by King, meaning she will arrive at next week’s tournament at the All England Club with just one grass-court match under her belt this season.
The world No. 13, who also made the last four of the Australian Open in January, raced through the opening set backed by a pair of service breaks.
Yet the 20-year-old was pegged back in the second set with the US’ King, ranked 75th, capitalizing on a lone break of serve.
Bouchard was forced to fend off a pair of break points at the start of the deciding set, but the third seed came unstuck in her following service game as King made the vital breakthrough to take a 2-1 lead. Bouchard had opportunities to pull herself back into the match as four break points came and went with the Canadian struggling to find her rhythm, before King sealed the contest after just over two hours on court.
Second-seed Dominika Cibulkova was also sent tumbling out in the Netherlands after losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.
With the top players falling all around her, the defending champion, Halep, made sure she did not add her name to the list of casualties.
The top-seeded Romanian brushed aside Belarusian Olga Govortsova 7-5, 6-2 in her first match since a narrow defeat to Maria Sharapova in the French Open final.
Halep, ranked a career-high third in the world following her Paris exploits, is to face German youngster Annika Beck in the second round.
Her path to retaining the title seemingly became even more straightforward after fifth seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany was sent packing by Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 in round two.
Roland Garros quarter-finalist Garbine Muguruza swept aside Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-4, 6-1 in her second-round match, while fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, who also reached the last eight at the French Open, eased past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-2 in round one.
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