The Swiss World No. 21, a quarterfinalist in Indian Wells last year (l. to S. Williams), took a nasty fall in the first game of the second set and received a medical timeout to have her cuts bandaged. The 26 year old broke her Canadian opponent six times during the contest lasting two hours and 22 minutes.
Bacsinszky will meet Russian Daria Kasatkina, a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) winner over Portugal's Monica Puig. This will be the first meeting between the two players.
After suffering a concussion at the US Open last year, Bouchard played only one one other match for the rest of the season. She has since rebounded to start the year, reaching the quarterfinals in Doha and finals in Kuala Lumpur (l. to Svitolina) and Hobart (l. to Cornet).
"It's a long road back; doing better than expected," Bouchard said. "I feel better about my game. Whether the results come or not."
On Stadium 2, No. 26 seed Samantha Stosur also contested a match that stretched past the two-hour mark. The former semifinalist (’10, l. to Jankovic) edged Christina McHale 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Stosur will next face the 2012 champion, Victoria Azarenka, who was tested from the baseline, but played with flashes of her former No. 1 self in a 6-4, 6-3 decision over 2016 success story Zhang Shuai. Azarenka ended the match on a patented forehand winner crosscourt, letting out a cry of “Come on!” as she sealed the victory.
The Belarusian leads her head-to-head with Stosur 8-1, though they haven’t met in nearly three years. It was the Australian who won that most recent meeting, 6-2, 6-3 in Carlsbad.
Source: BNP Paribas Open
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