Canadians Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard move on with wins at Citi Open

WASHINGTON — Canada’s Milos Raonic advanced to the third round of the Citi Open on Wednesday with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8) win over France’s Nicolas Mahut.

Raonic, the third seed in Washington, fired 26 aces past Mahut to set up a third-round match with either 16th-seeded American Ryan Harrison or Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., advanced to the second round of the women’s draw with a 7-6 (6), 6-0 win over eighth seed Christina McHale earlier Wednesday.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., and Mahut both held serve in the first set, with Raonic pulling ahead quickly in the tiebreak.

The second set was more frustrating for Raonic, who had nine break point opportunities against Mahut but converted just one of them. Mahut, meanwhile, converted one of his two break chances.

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But Raonic’s serve ended up being too much for Mahut as the Canadian fired 15 aces in the second set alone.

Earlier, what appeared to be a tough matchup for Bouchard after a tightly contested first set unravelled, as she converted three of her six break point opportunities while not facing break points herself in the second set.

Bouchard wrapped up the match in one hour 38 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with another American, Sloane Stephens.

In women’s doubles action, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and American partner Louisa Chirico defeated the American team of Kaitlyn Christian and Desirae Krawczyk 6-3, 7-6 (5).

The Canadian Press