Number seven seed Eugenie Bouchard staved off a comeback from Irina-Camelia Begu to secure a three-sets win that seals her place in the quarter-finals of the Australia Open.
The 20-year-old set the tone for the match as she broke the Romanian in her first service game by capitalising on mistakes to take control of the set.
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Bouchard did have minor trouble closing out the set on her service game as she presented Begu with three break points, but the 24-year-old failed to take her chances as the Canadian took the opener 6-1.
She continued her dominance as she earned a break of serve in the first game of the second to put Begu on the back foot immediately. A hold and another break quickly followed as the Romanian began to wilt under the pressure.
Begu hit back with a break as she punished Bouchard's second serve with a powerful backhand down the line, and she managed to break the 20-year-old again to force her way right back into the match, winning five games in a row to earn the chance to serve for the set.
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist came back into the set, only to commit a double fault on serve while trying to force a tiebreak to hand Begu the set 7-5.
Bouchard regained her composure on her serve as she took command of the third set to storm into a 2-0 lead. This time, the Canadian managed to see off the challenge of Begu to secure a 6-2 victory and with it the match.
She will play the winner of Maria Sharapova versus Shuai Peng in the quarter-finals.
Simon Sinclair
