Bouchard crashes back to earth in brutal fashion

Eugenie Bouchard's Madrid Open campaign has ended with a whimper as she was thrashed 6-4 6-0 by eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to exit at the quarter-final stage.

The Canadian set the tournament alight with a scintillating, three-set win over Maria Sharapova on Tuesday after her outspoken comments about the Russian returning from her 15-month doping ban, including calling her a cheater.

INSUFFERABLE: Sharapova takes veiled swipe at Bouchard

She then saw off world No.2 Angelique Kerber to reach the last eight but was slapped down by Russian Kuznetsova, who only ceded one break point in the entire match, which she saved.

The eighth seed then took Bouchard apart in the second set, breaking her four times before serving out the match.

Fans were quick to jump on Bouchard after her brutal exit.

Kuznetsova will face Kristina Mladenovic of France in the last four on Friday, with Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia meeting Romanian third seed Simona Halep in the other semi-final.

Bouchard. Image: Getty

Halep booked her spot in the semi-finals, taking less than an hour to defeat Coco Vandeweghe of the United States.

Halep, the world No.8, needed just 59 minutes to defeat world No.20 Vandeweghe 6-1 6-1.

The former French Open finalist is now one step away from a third final in Madrid, after losing in 2014 and seizing the title in 2016.

Halep set up the Vandeweghe clash on Wednesday by defeating Australia's Samantha Stosur, whom she also beat en route to her triumph last year before accounting for Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets in the final.

She will face Anastasija Sevastova in the last four after the Latvian beat Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3 6-3.