Eugenie Bouchard’s tennis career continues to be full of trials and tribulations, but the 23-year-old isn’t about to back down from those challenges.
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“I've had a very tough couple of months,” she said on Saturday in Madrid after securing a first-round win over Alizè Cornet. “Had some really tough moments. Have just been trying to work through them.”
Bouchard has been under the spotlight ever since she rode a wave of clutch play and aggressive shotmaking to the Wimbledon final in 2014. She would peak at No.5 in the world later that season, but since then she has struggled to find that magic.
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She’s also been prone to long losing streaks.
With her latest bad spell—a six-match tour-level losing streak that lasted from the Australian Open until yesterday—behind her, Bouchard is hoping that some recent self-discovery will help her out of the slump.
“I did some soul searching, some internal self-discovery,” she said, adding that the losing showed her how much work needed to be done on her game, both technically and mentally.
“It showed me that I had a lot to work on, which I'm still very much in the process of. I'm still at the very beginning of trying to improve. But I kept going through it. You know, just to get a win for me is a step because, you know, I haven't gotten a lot of those lately. I'm going to be proud of this.”
Bouchard may be benefitting from her decision to drop down to the challenger level and play a tournament at Indian Harbour a few weeks ago. She did not win the event but says that the humbling experience has helped her reset mentally.
"For sure, it was part of the process,” she told reporters. “I made the decision myself kind of against my coaches', actually, opinions. I told myself, ‘Look, you can't win a match at the WTA level. This is your punishment. You're going down to ITF.’ I didn't even win the tournament there, which was fine.
“I just wanted to kind of ground myself a little bit. It brought back such memories of, like, five years ago as a junior kind of playing those events. So different. It was eye-opening, a good reality check for me. It was good, even though the result wasn't great.”
Next up Bouchard will face Maria Sharapova in a match that will be closely watched by purists and drama lovers alike. Bouchard made big headlines when she strongly criticized Sharapova in an interview done at Istanbul, calling her a cheater and adding that she feels Sharapova should not be allowed back in the game.
She did not back down from those comments on Saturday.
“It's my personal opinion,” she said. “I've always played true my whole career. Yeah, it's just my opinion.”
Bouchard says that she will have extra motivation to defeat Sharapova based on those beliefs.
Once I step on the court, everything will be to the side,” she said. “But, you know, inside myself, I think I'll have a bit more motivation.”