Tennis-Bouchard blazes past Kerber into French Open quarters

(Repeats adding sport tag in headline) By Robert Woodward PARIS, June 1 (Reuters) - Canada's Eugenie Bouchard blazed past eighth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-1 6-2 at the French Open on Sunday to reach her second successive grand slam quarter-final. Bouchard, the 18th seed, was all over the Kerber serve from the outset and the left-handed German was caught cold. She was 5-0 down before she could draw breath in the face of the Canadian's accuracy, movement and variety of shot. The first set went by in just 23 minutes but Kerber's serve was still her weak point and she was broken in the third game of the second set and again in the fifth. Kerber ended her disappointing display by hitting a Bouchard second serve long on match point. "I just felt good out there," Bouchard said. "I think I executed my game plan really well, so I'm happy with that. I was really mentally prepared for anything, for a battle. "I'm confident and I really believe in my skills. I believe I can play with the best girls out there." The 20-year-old now plays either claycourt specialist Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, the 14th seed, or unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia in the last eight. Bouchard reached the semi-finals at this year's Australian Open, when she lost to eventual champion Li Na, and won her first WTA title shortly before the French Open began. "I feel like since the beginning of the year I have been improving my game, since Australia I'm at a different level from there," Bouchard said. SECOND SERVE Kerber managed to win just 28 percent of points on her second serve, but Bouchard's all-round game was also far superior. A stooping forehand down the line won Bouchard the first set after 23 minutes in front of a three-quarters empty Philippe Chatrier showcourt. Kerber held her first service game of the second set, but hit long to lose her second, and wasted her one break point in Bouchard's following service game, when the Canadian smacked a backhand into the corner to reach deuce. Two double faults and a couple of errors meant Kerber's third service game of the set also went in Bouchard's favour and the match was over after just 52 minutes. The result was a turnround from their only previous meeting, at last year's U.S. Open, when Kerber won in three sets. "I can say that it was not my best day today," said Kerber. "I was trying, but I had no rhythm. I made so many mistakes, I was not moving very good." (Reporting by Robert Woodward; editing by Martyn Herman)