TENNIS US OPEN 2014 – 26th of August 2014. E. Bouchard d. O. Govortsova 6-2, 6-1. An interview with Eugenie Bouchard
Q. How pleased are you with your result today?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I’m happy. Definitely never easy in the first round of a Grand Slam, so happy to get a win under my belt. I want to kind of get on a roll and keep the momentum going.
Q. The poor leadup, your coach said he didn’t care about that. Results going into the Australian and Wimbledon weren’t great either. Did you have that same mindset?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: In terms of my leadup for the slam? Yes. I got asked about it a few times, and Timmy, I looked back on my year, and I had different leadups to every slam and performed well on every one of them. I don’t think there is a magic recipe that if I get to the quarters of a women’s event I’ll do well at the slam. I think you just take it as it goes. Obviously I would have liked more matches, but that’s the way it is sometimes. I feel like I practiced well before, and that was the best I could do at that moment. So, yeah, you know, I still feel very confident with myself and I’m happy with today. I’m excited I just get the opportunity to play another match at the US Open.
Q. What are your thoughts going into this tournament this year as opposed to last year where it was your debut? This year, great results in Grand Slams. How different are you approaching it in terms of having that Grand Slam experience and the confidence you can derive from those tournaments?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, last year was my first professional US Open, quallies or main, and I was in the main. I was just very excited to be on-site in the main locker room, all that stuff. Yeah, going into this one, I mean, I feel like the past few weeks have been a bit of a struggle. I don’t feel like I’m putting too many high expectations on myself. But, you know, I have the inner confidence that I know if I’m playing as well as I know I can that I can do well. I don’t want to set a specific, you know, goal to reach a certain round or anything like that, because every round is so tough here. You know, I always know that I can do well.
Q. You take the ball so early. First of all, how is the knee? Looks like it’s pretty good. What does that feel like? Is there wear and tear on your knees taking the ball that early and playing that style of offense?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, movement is definitely important for me because I like to take it so early. I like to be able to react very quickly and get up to the ball as fast as I can to try to take it early and put pressure. So I’m definitely feeling healthier than I have the past few weeks. For about a week now I have been playing pretty good with my knees and hamstring, so I’m happy with that. I took a lot of time off for these injuries, so I think, you know, I feel good on the court. Just maybe not as much practice or matches have gone into it that I wanted. It’s like give and take that you have to do for the body, but I’m feeling good now. So I’m happy, and I just want to play more matches.
Q. You’re probably too young to know much about Carling Bassett, but I’m wondering what kind of Canadian tennis influence you have had, if any?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I never had any Canadian tennis influences. I looked up to the best: Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova. I remember watching Monica Seles playing. Any great champions I looked up to.
Q. What’s it like to be on the cover of New York Times magazine, and did you read the article? What did you think?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it’s an honor. It’s a big deal, people tell me. So I’m happy with that. It was a lengthy article. I did read it. Yeah, I think it’s great. You know, I was excited to see it. All my friends and family saw it. You know, I think it’s a good thing.
Q. You had a spill in that first set that sounded kind of scary. Any lasting effects? Was it scary?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: When I fell? Yeah, I have no idea what happened (smiling). I just remember hitting a forehand and then lying on the ground. What happened between, I have no idea. I am totally fine. It was just embarrassing.
Q. What’s the process been getting over the hamstring from the Stosur match last week? How many days did you take off?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it was something I managed in New Haven. I hurt it during practice a few days before the event, and therefore, really cut down on practice before the event. You know, I didn’t feel so good on the match court. But it’s something I had to do again, so it was a bit unfortunate because I feel like I was playing a bit better. Since then we taped it a little bit. It’s something that healed pretty quickly, so I was happy. The past five days, six days or so have been great. I really put in a lot of hours of practice here in New York City. I feel like it’s something I needed.
