Indian Well, Calif—Eugene Bouchard is healthy and eager to make some noise at the BNP Paribas Open, and if her 6-3, 6-2 takedown of hard-serving American CoCo Vandeweghe is any indication, she may just do that in the days to come.
Bouchard has only appeared in three events thus far this season, but after taking time to heal an injury to her forearm, she’s excited to be at Indian Wells in what she considers to be her first tournament with Sam Sumyk as her coach.
“We haven't had that much time training, and not that much tournament time, either,” said Bouchard. “So, you know, I consider this almost my first tournament with him. I like what he thinks about my game and the vision he has going forward, but, you know, we are keeping my general same aggressive game and just trying to improve on that.”
Bouchard has struggled with consistency since joining the ranks of the Top 10, and that’s something that she and Sumyk would like to change.
“Well, my ultimate goal is to, of course, win a Grand Slam and get to No. 1 in the world,” she said. “But, you know, I'm 7 right now, so it takes steps to get there. I have to be 6 and then 5 and, you know, continue that way.”
She added: “But I want to be more consistent this year. I think that's something I can improve on from last year and go to every tournament well prepared. I think that's a good goal for me to have, go to every tournament believing that I can win, being prepared to win, expecting to win, and having that kind of mindset.”
In good health now, Bouchard is eager to make some of her practice time pay off. “I just wanted to make sure I took the time to heal, because it's the beginning of the season, and I think I did a good job of doing that recovery and then getting—using the time to try to get into even more shape,” she said. ”So I think I did that well. I have just been craving tournaments and matches. So I'm just really happy to be here.”
Bouchard will face Ukranian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko in the round of 16. Last year, she lost to Simona Halep at that stage of the tournament. .