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She had talked the talk, but could Eugenie Bouchard walk the walk?

The chances seemed slim in Madrid on Monday. Last month, Bouchard had boldly stated her opinion that Maria Sharapova, once a role model of hers, should be banned from the game after her 2016 doping offense. But Bouchard hadn’t been nearly as bold as her words when she had faced the Russian in the past. Sharapova was 4-0 against Bouchard coming in.

Worse, there was nothing in the Canadian’s recent play that suggested that a breakthrough was in the cards. In April, the 60th-ranked Bouchard, who was the last direct entry into the Madrid draw, lost to 896th-ranked Vicky Duval at a minor-league event in Indian Beach, 6-0, 6-3.

If Duval could do that to her, what chance did she stand against Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion who had looked surprisingly sharp in reaching the semifinals in Stuttgart, in her first tournament in 15 months? Back on the big stage at the Caja Magica, with all eyes on her in a night match, Bouchard started nervously. Sharapova saved two break points at 2-2, and broke with a forehand winner for 4-2. She looked the way we thought she would look: Like the stronger player.

But Bouchard said beforehand that she felt more motivation for this match than usual. She had no choice but to make it competitive, and she began to do that at 2-4. On her third break point, Bouchard stepped into a return and finished the rally with a strong crosscourt forehand. From that point on, it looked like she believed she could play with Sharapova. And from that point on, it was clear that Sharapova was going to give Bouchard her chances. In a pattern that would repeat itself for much of the evening, Sharapova found her groove in one game only to lose it completely in the next.

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The key for Bouchard was taking those chances when they came. She served for the first set at 5-4 and was broken, and it appeared that the same thing was going to happen when she served for it again at 6-5. But she found her first serve—five of them in a row, in fact—just in time to save a break point and hold for the set with a forehand winner.

In the second set, Bouchard lost her first serve again, as well as her second. At 2-2, she double faulted twice and was broken. This time Sharapova took command, moved inside the court, and ran away with it 6-2.

This intense match, in which every point was bitterly—and loudly—contested, reached its competitive peak early in the third set. In three straight games, the server went down 0-40 before coming back to hold. Again, Bouchard, playing excellent defense, earned a chance to serve it out at 5-4. Again, she fell behind early and faced break point. But again, Sharapova lost control of her most reliable shot, her backhand. From 15-40, she hit a backhand into the net, a backhand wide and a backhand long. But Bouchard finished it on her racquet, with a forehand winner that was as fearless as her words about Sharapova had been last week.

Bouchard said her 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, in two hours, 51 minutes—Sharapova won more points, 112 to 107—would be popular in the locker room.

“I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people,” she said. “I really felt support.”

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This may have been Bouchard’s best performance since 2014, her breakthrough year, but Sharapova said she wasn’t surprised by it. Sharapova was disappointed by the result, but claimed she was able to block out any extraneous distractions. In the end, the rust showed: Sharapova’s game was there for stretches, and then it was gone, completely, for longer stretches. That was especially true of her return, which is usually a strength. Sharapova was just five of 21 on break points.

Is this a turnaround win for Bouchard? Can she perform this well against her next opponent, Angelique Kerber, without calling for her to be banned from tennis? It’s certainly possible. We’ve seen Bouchard sustain this level deep into Grand Slams in the past.

Either way, this is the match that mattered most for Bouchard. When the two women shook hands, Sharapova said, quietly, “Well played.” Bouchard said nothing. For these three hours, her racquet had done the talking.