One of the most interesting clashes of the day at the Volvo Car Open sees 17th seed Eugenie Bouchard take on Alexandra Dulgheru in a first round match in Charleston. This match is set to take place on Stadium Court at around 14:00 Charleston Time (19:00 UK Time) and the winner will face Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the second round.
Of the two, Bouchard is in the better form by a long way. The Canadian has already more matches this year and than she did in the whole of 2015, and has played some strong tennis, recording wins over tough players such as Sloane Stephens and Dominika Cibulkova. Two tournament finals will have also helped her confidence. In contrast, Dulgheru has had a poor start to the year, winning only three matches this season and is close to falling out of the top 100 at 97th in the rankings. However the Romanian is still a dangerous player and is back on what can be a strong surface for her.
Serving will be key for both players in this clash. Bouchard can be a good server, though this is not the strongest part of her game and her losses usually come when she has a poor serving percentage. The same can be said for Dulgheru, though serving well may be more important for her than it is for Bouchard. The Canadian should also try to limit her number of errors and should look to try and dictate play as much as possible, as Dulgheru is just as powerful as her. Dulgheru should look to attack as much as possible and should be prepared to defend a lot against Bouchard’s attacking game. The Romanian should also look to vary her game style, and try to get the 17th seed to move around court, as Dulgheru is a good mover.
Dulgheru leads the head to head 1-0, winning a high-profile meeting in the Fed Cup last year. The Romanian is low on confidence and match wins, though has a tricky game and Bouchard is not back at her best yet. However the Canadian has had a solid year so far, and should be able to win this; it could well be tight.
Prediction: Bouchard in 3
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