Tennis: Recharged Bouchard Sets Up Sydney Semi With Konta

Tennis: Recharged Bouchard sets up Sydney semi with Konta

SYDNEY, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2017 ) : Eugenie Bouchard reached her first semi-final for 10 months as she battled intense heat to down higher-ranked Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Sydney International on Wednesday.

The former Wimbledon finalist wore down the 27th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3 in 76 minutes to set up a semi-final with Britain's world number 10 Johanna Konta. It will be the 49th-ranked Canadian's first WTA Tour semi-final since the Malaysian Open in March last year.

"It's a good step in the right direction. I know there is a long way to go to achieve what I want," Bouchard said.

"But to match up against solid players like I have this week, it's a very tough tournament here.

So I'm proud of that, for sure." Bouchard beat Konta in three sets in the second round at last year's Wimbledon, but it was a battle. "I barely got through the last one. She's a top-10 player.

She's playing her best tennis right now," Bouchard said of Konta. "I know she will be pretty aggressive. She hits a big ball. I will be ready for that and try and play some good tennis. Yeah, just be grateful for another day in Sydney."