Sevastova condemns Bouchard to 12th successive defeat

Aug 26, 2019; Flushing, NY, USA; Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia returns a shot against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in a first round match on day one of the 2019 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Latvian 12th seed Anastasija Sevastova dispatched an error-prone Genie Bouchard 6-3 6-3 to reach the second round of the U.S. Open on Monday.

Bouchard struggled with her accuracy, committing 27 unforced errors and double faulting four times, in the match which drew a big crowd to Court 5.

Sevastova, a semi-finalist in New York last year, was sharper throughout and blazed a crosscourt forehand winner past Bouchard's outstretched racket on match point.

Aug 26, 2019; Flushing, NY, USA; Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia returns a shot against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in a first round match on day one of the 2019 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Former world number five Bouchard, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2014, has struggled all season is now ranked a lowly 119 and her loss on Monday was her 12th in a row.

Aug 26, 2019; Flushing, NY, USA; Eugenie Bouchard of Canada returns a shot against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in a first round match on day one of the 2019 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Pritha Sarkar)