Last year at the U.S. Open Eugenie Bouchard’s season took a bizarre turn for the worse when she suffered a locker room fall and suffered a concussion.
Things got a little weirder in the aftermath when the Canadian hired a lawyer and hit the USTA with a lawsuit.
A year later and there’s still bad blood and no resolution.
The USTA took a shot at the 22-year-old Canadian a few days ago, releasing a statement that questioned Bouchard’s priorities, and called her actions “unfortunate.”
Here’s a snippet from the original USTA statement which was posted by Stephanie Myles of Yahoo Canada:
“The USTA does not comment on the substance of ongoing litigation. However, it is truly unfortunate that a year after her accident, Genie’s focus is on matters other than playing to her best ability. … We have remained ready, willing and able to bring the litigation to a conclusion as expeditiously as is possible."
USTA spokesperson Chris Widmaier told ESPN's Peter Bodo that the tournament will in no way degrade Bouchard’s status because of the ongoing litigation. He told her the tournament and the lawsuit are separate.
Bouchard’s lawyer, Benedict Morelli, has said the USTA is interested in settling, but the two parties remain quite a distance apart. "They have indicated that they wanted to settle," Morelli said, according to ESPN. "We didn't talk specific-specific, but let's just say their side of the conversation was unrealistic." Reportedly, Bouchard is taking the USTA’s comments in stride:
Bouchard, unseeded in New York, will face Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in her first-round match on Tuesday. On Sunday, she relaxed and watched the VMA’s, a sign that all is well, at least on the surface: