Music: {allcanada} Cdn Bouchard falls to Sharapova after rain delay

Friday, May 31, 2013

{allcanada} Cdn Bouchard falls to Sharapova after rain delay

PARIS — Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Daniel Nestor lost their matches Friday at the French Open.

The No. 77-ranked Bouchard, from Montreal, was dispatched by defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 in a second-round match that was forced to be completed Friday due to rain.

Toronto's Nestor and new partner Robert Lindstedt of Sweden lost their second-round match to French duo Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy and Florent Serra 7-6(3), 6-3. It was Nestor's worst result at Roland Garros since he was ousted in the second round in 2006.

Bouchard, meanwhile, trailed by a set and 4-2 when the match was halted Thursday night by rain.

The 19-year-old put up a stubborn defence Friday before falling on a first match point as her forehand sailed over the baseline.

"It was a good experience, to play one of the best in the world," Bouchard said. "I saw her game, her shots.

"She kept me on my heels a lot. I tried to counter that and was able to play my best game at some stages."

Bouchard, who made her first WTA semifinal last weekend in Strasbourg, converted on only one-of-six break chances and committed 22 unforced errors. Sharapova also won their only previous meeting in March in Miami.

"I did better than Miami, it was more competitive this time," Bouchard said. "I wasn't quite as blown off the court as in Miami.

"It was an improvement. I was excited and motivated and was really looking forward to the match."

The third-seeded Nestor and Lindstedt lost in 75 minutes to snap Nestor's 19-match win streak in Paris.

Nestor had claimed the French Open title the previous three years — with Nenad Zimonjic in 2010 and Max Mirnyi in 2011 and 2012 — and owns four trophies overall. He has also played in three other finals (1998, 2002 and '08).

"Nothing went right for us." said Nestor. "The best comparison is to boxing match, where you get pounded early.

"They came out swinging and we were on our heels the whole time."

The loss was the first in Paris for the 40-year-old Canadian since he and Zimonjic were beaten in the 2009 semifinals by Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes.

"They didn't do anything to surprise us, we weren't making shots," Nestor said. "In the first game they hit four winners to break and that set the tone.

"They were hitting big shots and we were just hanging on. When we needed to make shots, we didn't."

Nestor admitted it was tough to lose in Paris, saying "It was a good run."

Nestor and Lindstedt broke twice but lost serve three times in the tight match.