Australian Open: Serena proves too tough to handle for Eugenie Bouchard

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Playing against each other for the first time in four years, Serena had the upper hand from start to finish, overpowering her rival despite struggling on the second serve to set the third round clash against an 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska.

It wasnt the best performance on serve for Serena in the opening set but she played better and better as the match progressed to leave the rival behind and finish the job in 70 minutes. The American dominated with her first serve and grabbed more than half of the return points to put Eugenie under all kind of pressure and break her six times from 13 opportunities.

The Canadian did her best to stay in touch in the opening set after back-to-back breaks she earned but it wasnt enough for a more favorable outcome as she never found the rhythm behind her initial shot, hitting ten winners and 18 unforced errors.

Bouchard got broken in the very first game of the match after a double fault, which is never a good sign, wasting game points and suffering another break in game three after a forced error. The rest of the set was not that good for Serena either, losing serve in games four and six to keep Bouchard in, although she was always in front after taking the rivals serve four times in total, closing the opener with a hold at 15 in game eight thanks to a smash winner.

The American raised the level in her games in set number two and Bouchard couldnt follow that pace, failing to move Serena from the comfort zone or to overwhelm her in the rallies. The Canadian struggled in every service game, finding the way to repel break points and stay in touch until game five when Serena broke her at love to gain the crucial lead.

The American secured the win with another break at 4-2 when Bouchard hit a double fault and she was over the top following another strong service game to seal the deal and stay on the title course. <table