Eugenie Bouchard loses Istanbul final in three sets to Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig

Canadian qualifier Eugenie Bouchard fell short of capturing her first WTA tournament title in six years on Sunday, falling to Patricia Maria Tig of Romania 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) at the Istanbul Tennis Championship.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was appearing in her first final since 2016. Her only career tournament title came in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2014.

Tig, ranked No. 88, converted on 5-of-13 break points and saved 6 of 10.

The match took 2 hours 32 minutes.

Bouchard beat world No. 94 Paula Badosa of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the WTA Tour clay-court event on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Canadian, ranked 272nd in the world, had to win two qualifying matches to get into the main draw.

Bouchard, a former world No. 5 after reaching the final of Wimbledon in 2014, is projected to rise to No. 163 after Sunday’s result.