Genie Bouchard looking to find herself - UBITENNIS

Genie Bouchard looking to find herself

By Lorenzo Dicandia
7 Min Read
Eugenie Bouchard (image via sportingnews.com)

Sometimes it is difficult to understand how things happens, what takes you to the top and what, instead, brings you down. You’re always the same person, you do the same old things, it’s the same you who were able to be among the best in your field and yet suddenly results stop to come. What has changed? What is going wrong?

These must be the questions that have been popping in Eugenie Bouchard’s head during this year in which everything has seemed to go in the wrong direction. After last year’s successes she was expected to have the ultimate breakthrough, competing for Grand Slam titles and giving new life, new fans and new endorsements to WTA. She had both the game and the look to be the new face of women’s tennis, but things are not evolving the way she, and most fans, were expecting. This year has been a free fall for the young Canadian, who managed to win only nine matches in the twenty-six she played. The season had even started on the right track, with the quarter-finals reached at the Australian Open. From then on, however, it was just losses and vague attempts at explaining what was going on, with the comparisons with Maria Sharapova shifting to comparisons with another tall blonde Russian, Anna Kournikova, who had more success in the entertainment world than in tennis.

The problems of Genie don’t have only one root, probably. Game-wise she has a high-risk, spectacular style that is often prone to errors and blackouts. She lacks variety, but that is a common trait of the prototype of the modern player, who has only a plan A: hitting strong. Additionally, after last year’s results, her opponents have started studying and figuring out her game and they know exactly what it takes to put her in a bad position. Looking, for example, at last week’s match against Roberta Vinci, when Bouchard made only one game and couldn’t understand how to respond to all the different variations coming off the Italian’s racquet. It is evident how Bouchard’s game is one based on confidence, and when losses start to accumulate it is difficult to continue believing in how you play. One solution could therefore be studying a plan B, adding variations and adopting a more patient attitude on court.

However, her frequent coach changes are not helping things go in that direction. Since December she has already changed three coaches, first leaving her 8-year guide Nick Saviano and working with Victoria Azarenka’s former-coach, Sam Sumyk. Still, this switch did not help her bring the expected outcomes, and recently she parted ways with Sumyk too. At the Open she’s been hitting with Jimmy Connors, who said he’s more a help than a real full-time coach. These continuous changes are the epitome of what is not working: there is a clear shortage of ideas from her entourage on how to handle her talent. It is not a matter of Bouchard lacking the game, because a girl who makes three consecutive Slam semifinals at 20 cannot suddenly stop knowing how to play. It is a matter of taking the right decisions, and the fault can’t be addressed entirely on the girl.

Then there is the off-court aspect. Her look has granted her popularity and constant attention by the media; she has signed with numerous sponsors, and she’s often host of various TV shows and entertainment events. This has given the impression to many that the priority of Genie is shifting from tennis to something else. Her conduct is not helping either, often assuming a diva-like attitude that could easily irritate fellow tour players and fans. She has often said that she’s not on tour to make friends, and that she has no intention of doing so, and she also refused to shake hands with her Fed Cup opponent from Romania Alexandra Dulgheru, saying that the gesture is “lame”. Lately she even took instance on Nick Kyrgios’ case, sustaining that tennis needs someone “charismatic and energetic” like him. These remarks have brought a part of the media and of fans to seeing her as a brat, as her hacked Wikipedia page shows.
Bouchard Wikipedia page
However, many other stars before her have had their share of hostility from other players and fans, from Hingis to Sharapova, from Capriati to Serena. All of them have then slightly changed their attitudes, becoming more media savvy and experienced, which is exactly what we expect from the Canadian.

This tournament, anyway, seems to have given us back the old Eugenie, the one who managed to climb to number six in the rankings. She has been playing a great, aggressive game, often anticipating the ball and coming to the net more. She will face Roberta Vinci on Sunday, in an attempt at doing better than last week, although yesterday she fell in the locker room, sustaining an head injury that forced her to withdraw from the doubles events.

Whatever the outcome of the match will be, Eugenie seemed to have regained this week that confidence and that calm she was missing. Whether it will be an isolated event or a climb back to the top, it’s up to her to decide.

Leave a comment