Eugenie Bouchard enters second round of Prague Open

Prague, Aug 11 (IANS) Wildcard Eugenie Bouchard sailed past eighth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in straight sets to enter the second round of WTA Prague Open.Bouchard, currently world No. 330, defeated Kudermetova 6-0, 6-3 in 76 minutes on Monday and registered her first clay win since Gstaad 2018. "I feel that the first set was tough in almost every game. It's not like it was a walk in the park," the former world No. 5 told the official WTA website."I'm proud of myself for battling in every single game. It ended up going my way most of the time. I stayed on it every point and didn't make too many loose errors. I played solid and aggressive, which is what I try to aim for," she added.Meanwhile, Kristyna Pliskova, who had already featured at last week's Palermo Open, was frustrated in her efforts to get past 15-year-old WTA debutant Linda Fruhvirtova.The match was twice stopped due to a thunderstorm, with the second heavy downpour leading to the suspension of play for the day. The all-Czech first-round match will continue on Tuesday.
--IANS aak/