Bouchard passes first test in Miami qualifying

[March 20, 2018]    (Reuters) - Canadian Eugenie Bouchard beat American wildcard Allie Kiick 6-2 6-2 to be among a parade of former top 20 players to win their first round qualifying matches at the Miami Open on Monday.

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) in her first round match against Sachia Vickery (not pictured) at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Stosur won the match. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist who has fallen outside the top 100 in the world rankings since reaching a career-high fifth in 2014, fired seven aces as she dispatched Kiick.

The 24-year-old Canadian, who last month won a slip-and-fall lawsuit against the U.S. Tennis Association over an incident at the 2015 U.S. Open that left her with a concussion, was playing her first match since a first-round loss at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

Yanina Wickmayer, who climbed to a career-high 12th in the rankings shortly after reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals in 2010, also advanced but needed nearly 2-1/2 hours to earn a 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4 win over Australia's Olivia Rogowska.

Andrea Petkovic, a former world number nine, booked her spot in the second round of qualifying when German compatriot Sabine Lisicki retired. Petkovic was leading 4-6 6-3 3-1.

Former French Open runner-up Sara Errani, who was ranked fifth in the world in 2013, fell at the first hurdle after being beaten 6-4 5-7 7-6(2) by Czech Tereza Martincova.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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