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Bouchard makes headlines - for the right reasons

Cape Town - Eugenie Bouchard has been all over the news of late, but now her results are starting to do the talking.

The Canadian made the headlines for her harsh words about Maria Sharapova's return to tennis, calling her a cheater in a candid interview. With some extra motivation, she knocked the five-time grand slam winner out in the second round of the Madrid Open earlier this week.

Now, the 23-year-old has added another feather to her cap, ousting world No 2 Angelique Kerber on Wednesday to reach her first WTA Premier Mandatory quarter-final.

"All in all I'm very pleased," Bouchard told reporters in the post-match press conference.

"I felt I started off a little bit off because the conditions were so different. It was cold. It was really windy from one side to the other, a strong wind. The atmosphere was different from my previous match.

"At the beginning, I just felt a little bit out of it, a couple loose errors. But then after that, I got myself together and got my rhythm, felt pretty awesome out there."

Waiting for Bouchard in the last eight is another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova. The duo have met twice before - with Kuznetsova emerging victorious on both occasions - but that was against an inexperienced Bouchard in 2014.

While Kerber was arguably the bigger fish, Kuznetsova was more impressed with Bouchard's performance against compatriot Sharapova. 

"I think they both were hitting the ball very hard, stepping up," revealed the 31-year-old.

"But I don't think Maria still, is getting all her game back, but she's doing much better. But for me, she was playing better in Stuttgart.

"And Genie, definitely she's playing much better than past months."

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