Bouchard eliminates Sharapova at Madrid Open

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada celebrates victory after defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia in the second-round match at the Madrid Open in Spain on May 8, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

MADRID — Motivated more than usual, Eugenie Bouchard used her game to send a message to Maria Sharapova by defeating the Russian 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling second-round match at the Madrid Open on Monday.

Bouchard, one of the most outspoken players against Sharapova's return to tennis following a doping ban, jumped up and down after converting her second match point in just under three hours.

The players casually shook hands at the net and exchanged brief plaudits.

It was their first meeting since Bouchard called Sharapova a cheater and said she should have been banned for life from the sport after testing positive for meldonium at last year's Australian Open.

"I definitely had some extra motivation going into today," Bouchard said. "I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck, players I don't normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me. So I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people. I really felt support.